Wishes
by FizzBomb02xox
Summary: So this is the follow up to Mischief Managed. It's Molly's second year at Hogwarts but what happens when she plays with magic and a wish gets out of control? Time is turned and life is suddenly different. (Rated T because I'm being v careful and don't know what will happen later on yet)
1. Chapter 1

'Wishes' continues directly from 'Mischief Managed' so if you haven't read that I recommend you do so else this will make absolutely no sense to you. Unlike Mischief Managed, however, this isn't a story I have completed already and gone back to edit so there may be plot holes or mistakes in the story. Sorry it took so long to start, but next week mean the start of the summer so if the first few chapters go well, I'll hopefully update through the holidays (fingers crossed). I have the plot set out in my head so know where it's going but so far have only written two chapters so they're nothing exciting just yet. I hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing from the HP universe it all belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling

Chapter 1

"Mum!" a young voice shouted up the staircase of 17 Foxclove Avenue, "Mum! Dad packed Willow in one of the boxes!"

The house was considerably emptier than it had been a few weeks ago, with boxes piled up in every room and bin bags full of unwanted or unused items stuffed in the corners. Only a few essentials were left around the house; a few sets of clothes, toiletries, food and crockery. One thing, however, Katherine Weasley had not planned to pack with the furniture, was her pet dog. Taking the stairs two at a time, she rushed to the living room and burst through the door to see her only child, Molly, digging around in a cardboard box and her husband, Fred, laughing loudly next to the fireplace.

"What were you thinking?" Kat demanded angrily, glaring at her husband, "The poor thing."

As Molly finally uncovered Willow and lifted her gently out of the box, Fred gasped, "I thought it would save some space," between his laughter. But when his wife didn't even smile, he added seriously, "It was only a joke, honey. I would never have kept her in there for long."

Kat took the puppy from her daughter and, after stroking her head in comfort, she handed Fred both the dog and her lead. "Take her out for a walk. Molly and I can finish packing up without your messing around. Try not to cause any trouble."

Somewhere deep inside her, Kat loved Fred's constant jokes and sense of humour, but she had been through a lot in the last year. From finding out that both her husband and her daughter possessed magical abilities, to them almost dying at least three times, Kat's life was certainly different to how it had been a few years previous and she wasn't sure she liked it. Being married to a wizard from an all magic family meant that Kat was the only 'Muggle' and was often left out of the loop. She constantly felt excluded around the Weasleys, despite being one herself. Conversations at dinner would often turn to magic, meaning Kat had to listen in silence as her family discussed a life she could never be part of.

To top it all off, the three of them were moving house. Fred had felt that he needed to make up the past twenty years to his family, so the three of them were moving to the nearest village to the Burrow- Ottery St. Catchpole. They would be living in a large cottage on the outskirts of the town, only about a minute's walk from George's house.

Kat understood her husband's feelings. After twenty years being completely isolated from his family, it was only natural for Fred to want to be close to them once more. The twins especially had an unbreakable bind between them- they were both brothers and best friends. But something inside Kat made her want to strangle her brother-in-law every time he was talking to Fred. Of course, the boys had a lot to catch up on, but they worked with each other all day, every day; wasn't that enough? Kat had been pulled through Hell over the past year, forced to go to work every single day without even knowing that her husband was risking his life to save their daughter. As if she wasn't worried about them enough!

Kat had received no letters- or owls- about either of the people she loved most, waking up each morning with no idea whether or not they were alive or not and going to sleep that night, just as clueless and concerned. She didn't want to let them go again, she needed to know that they were safe.

Fred looked at his wife guiltily as she repeated, "Take Willow, Fred. Please."

Holding the puppy tightly to his chest and scooping up her lead, Fred sheepishly dragged his feet towards the front door and left. He took a deep breath in of the fresh air before placing Willow on the front step and attaching her lead to her collar.

"Come on Willow," he muttered quietly, "Let's go."

The young Labrador bounded down the steps where she stood happily, tongue lolling out her mouth and tail wagging. Fred smirked and jumped down after Willow, pulling her lead gently towards the park.

He hadn't missed the jealous, almost murderous looks that Kat often sent George, but that didn't mean he understood them. Of course, after everything they'd all been through, he did feel bad for his wife, but what did she have against George? Fred had promised himself that he'd make everything up to her- she deserved that much- but first, he had to spend time with his family as he owed them so much more.

There hadn't been a single day when Fred hadn't seen George since they were reunited properly and the more time he spent with his brother, the less guilt seemed to be thriving inside Fred's heart. The twins were very much back to the people everyone knew and loved; as though they were still Hogwarts students themselves. The new products in the joke shop had boosted its popularity even more and Fred's supposed death was seemingly forgotten. The Weasleys had insisted on paying for the funeral of Lucius Malfoy and had all attended politely yet ashamedly. The Malfoys had had no issue with accepting the Weasleys offer and had not contacted them since, not that anyone particularly minded.

That evening, as he did every Sunday, Fred would be joining his mother, father and siblings at the Burrow for dinner. This was a tradition which had begun after the battle, almost as reassurance that they were all alive. Of course now, the mood was a lot more cheerful at these meals.

Bending down to remove Willow's lead and let her run freely around in the park, Fred thought desperately of ways to cheer up Kat. He was getting sick of her jumping down his neck at things she used to find hilarious. Surely she should be happy that Fred felt complete again, not annoyed that she had 'competition'. Besides, Fred had grown up with his brother, battling the world together. The two of them had so many unforgettable memories, good and bad. They had endless stories of how the two of them had ended up in the hospital wing at least twice a month, stories which had now become weekly entertainment for the family at dinner. Fred and George had a bond that no one else could understand. Naturally, they had their moments of wanting to strangle one another, but underneath, their hearts were linked to each other, beating in synchronicity. Only Fred could see when George was upset and only George knew when Fred was feeling slightly down. They were each other's medicine, a simple smile or laugh from the twins was enough to lighten the entire school.

Fred desperately wished there was a way to get the last twenty years back. Deep down, he knew he couldn't but constantly knowing that he had disappointed his family for so long made him more annoyed than he could say. So much could have been done in the two decades when he was gone- so many more jokes, pranks and special moments meant for a family. Every spare minute he had, Fred spent thinking about this, imagining his family's weddings, meeting his nieces and nephews as newborns, not teenagers. It was as though a dementor hovered over him whenever he was alone, reminding him of what he should have done and sucking out every cheerful memory he had with Molly and Kat.

Kicking up a storm of leaves, Fred chased after Willow, laughing as the puppy danced and bounded through the park. After a few minutes, Willow jumped up, placing her front paws on Fred's legs with her tongue lolling out. Chuckling, Fred reached down to tickle her behind the ears before taking off at a run toward the lake. Willow bounced along behind him, yapping at birds and spinning in circles.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Half an hour later, Fred sat on a chipped wooden bench, watching his puppy splash in the water, scaring away the geese and lapping up the water. It wasn't long before a soaking wet dog was plodding out of the lake, water dribbling from her fur. After letting Willow shake herself off, Fred re-attached the lead and began to lead her home through the park. In the summer sun, it didn't take long for Willow's fur dry silky smooth again and by the time the two were back at the house steps, Willow was panting slightly in exhaustion.

As soon as the front door opened, Willow, dragging her feet slightly, walked into the living room and curled up on the sofa. Fred however, entered the kitchen and opened the fridge. Like most things in the house, it was practically empty. Fred sighed and slammed the fridge closed. He couldn't wait to move- maybe a new house would mean a new start. Maybe, Kat will learn to appreciate Fred and his family. Maybe she'd act like she actually loved him.

Immediately, Fred felt immensely guilty for thinking that way. Nothing about what had happened recently had been Kat's fault!

Fred glanced quickly at the clock. It was crazy to think that they had less than three hours left in that house. Less than three house before the delivery vans came. Less than three hours before they close the front door for the last time. The house Fred had lived in for twenty years. The house he and Kat had raised their only child in, the house Molly had grown up in. That house….

House. Not home. Fred had never been able to call this building home; not properly. For him, his true home would always be the magical world. The Burrow, Hogwarts, his joke shop, not offices and Muggle cities. That didn't seem right. After all, Fred and his family had fought to protect their world for years. Every one of them was willing to make sacrifices to protect what was theirs. How could you run away from that and call something opposite home?

The white door swung open and Molly stepped into the kitchen.

"Hey, dad," she said as she walked around the table.

"Hey, Mol," Fred replied, watching her with a sense of curiosity. "What are you up to?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh," Molly coughed awkwardly, "Well you see…"

"Molly?" Fred said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, "What have you done?"

Seeing the look of amusement on her dad's face, Molly sighed in relief and said, "Well you see father dearest, in the eleven years that I have lived in this lovely abode, I have been creating a small stash."

Fred jokingly leant on the table and repeated, "A stash?"

"Why, yes. A small stash of sweet delights," Molly explained, kneeling down and reaching under the table.

Curiously, Fred peered down to see his daughter teasing a floor tile. She slid her nails under the crack and the tile popped up to reveal three piles of chocolate, sweets and toffee, all tucked into the space underneath one single tile.

"Molly!" Fred exclaimed, "You mean to tell me that you found this hiding spot _and_ kept sweets in it for years, without telling me?"

"Erm… yes?"

"I'm proud of you," Fred said, "I have taught you well."

Molly giggled, "Somehow I don't think mum would agree."

"Mum used to agree." He sighed, "Come on, let's sneak this stash of yours upstairs. We'll have to find somewhere to hide it all in the new house."

"I think you mean _I'll_ have to find somewhere new to find it," Molly corrected.

"Ha! Only if you want mum to find out."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"It smells weird," Molly said distastefully as she explored the new cottage.

"It smells new," Kat corrected, dropping a box in the hallway. "Go help your dad carry the boxes in from the van."

"Weird," Molly muttered, ducking past her mum and skipping outside where Fred was attempting to carry at least four boxes in his arm.

Molly cringed as the top three wobbled and tumbled to the ground with a loud crash. Smashed plates spilt onto the driveway, chipped glasses rolled onto the street. A stray chair leg was poking out the top of one box, the rest of its body had toppled out and had joined half of their old house on the ground. Half a teapot lay sadly next to its ruined other part. A few forks had somehow managed to end up in the hedgerow a couple of feet away. One old plant pot appeared to be wearing a pair of sunglasses and another was balanced on top of a heap of books.

Fred, meanwhile, was studying the scene confusedly. "Huh," he said, "Gravity is real."

Molly burst into giggles as her dad whipped out his wand and quickly fixed and repacked everything, stacking the boxes on top of each other. He levitated the boxes and guided them carefully in through the front door, winking at Molly as he passed.

Molly began to head towards the van but Fred stopped her, shouting, "Don't worry Mol, I'll grab the rest!"

Turning on her heel Molly scanned the outside of the cottage. A cobbled path led up to the front door which was coated in chipped, dark brown paint. An old garden swing hunched next to the door, the chains rusted slightly and broken plant pots held withered flowers. The windows, while fully intact, were blanketed in grime. Moss clung tightly to crevices in the walls and there were several slates missing from worn spots on the roof. For a cottage, Molly thought it was quite grand, even though it was scruffy.

She began to head back up the path but paused when she heard her parent's angered voices from inside the hallway.

"-you wouldn't use magic while we were moving in!" Her mum was shouting.

"Well next time you want to break your back carrying however many heavy boxes up the drive just let me know and I'll leave you to it!"

"Fred, not all of us have a handy wand in or back pocket which we can just get out and save the day with!"

"You really think it's as simple as that? Kat, I was trying to help! If I just fly the boxes in, it'll take so much less time and we can unpack and settle in!"

"Fred we don't need the help! We can do it normally!"

"Normally?" Fred said, shocked.

"It's not normal, Fred! Magic isn't normal!"

"Magic isn't normal? Magic isn't normal?" Fred shouted.

"No, Fred it isn't. I'm normal, Fred. Me. No magic, no freaky backstory, just a normal 'Muggle' life!"

"So I'm not? I'm not normal? Molly isn't normal?"

Molly heard her mum gasp in realisation. "No, Fred, honey. That's not what I-"

"Do you know what? I'm going to see George. I might stay the night with him, so you can have a normal night without me. Have fun breaking your back."

Molly couldn't do anything but watch in shock as her dad left the house and began to storm down the driveway.

"Dad-" she began, but Fred had already closed the gate behind him.

Molly looked between the house and the gate helplessly, mouth gaping open. These pointless arguments seemed to be cropping up more and more frequently which meant there were gradually becoming more and more nights a week when Fred would leave to stay with George. Each time he left Molly feared he wouldn't come back, that this time, the argument had got too out of hand. But the routine stayed the same. Fred would leave, stay away for the night, and return home to Molly and Kat after work the next day. Something inside of Molly told her that her dad only came home for her, so the family would be whole for her sake. She feared what would happen when she returned to Hogwarts. Might her father leave for good?

Molly was still gawping at the closed gate when Kat came down the drive to finish unpacking the van. Her mum tried to begin a sentence but Molly interrupted, "I'm going to settle into my bedroom. Unpack a bit and start putting together my wardrobe and things. Call me down for tea." And with that, she ran into the house, grabbed one of the few boxes labelled with her name, and hauled it up the stairs.

With some difficulty and lots of effort, she managed to heave all seven of her boxes up the stairs onto the hallway. With the cottage having one master bedroom and two smaller ones, Molly had been given the choice of which room she wanted. Naturally, she chose the bigger of the remaining two. Opening each box to check, Molly selected the one which contained the pieces of her wardrobe and bed before pushing it along the hallway to her new room.

The bedroom itself was quite small, the entire back wall being covered with large windows facing the garden. The walls were a pale mint green but the ceiling was a pure white. Molly smiled; before they moved, she had feared the room would have to be painted because all her furniture was jet black. This combination of colours, however, would thankfully look lovely.

Setting the box in the middle of the floor, Molly began to unpack the pieces that made up her bed.

Just over an hour later, the bed was completely built and pushed into the corner of the room under the window. The duvet and pillow were both covered and set out neatly on the mattress. Molly herself lay on the floor, completely exhausted. The jumper she'd been wearing lay a few feet away from her, after being discarded long ago. She'd never realised that putting an entire bed together single-handedly would be such hard work. Sighing she rolled over onto her front and rubbed her hands through the soft carpet. She was lucky that the room had been left in such good condition, meaning Molly could start putting her furniture together immediately. Really, she should be helping her mum downstairs, cooking or unpacking the things they would all need soon, but when Fred and Kat argued, Molly found that keeping away from the tension helped. She knew her mum would be upset, but didn't know how to help, so staying in her room was the safest option.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It wasn't long before the delicious scent Kat's cooking was wafting through the cottage and Molly was forced out of her room by temptation. She skipped down the stairs in attempt to keep a smile on her face for Kat. The stairs and hallways were lined with boxes and stay cases and bags from the other house. In due time they'd all have to be sorted through and put away but that could take weeks; the cottage wasn't big enough to hold everything anyway.

"What are you making, mum?" Molly asked cheerfully as she entered what would be the kitchen.

"I'm not too sure to be perfectly honest, sweetie. The only food we have is what was left the cupboards at home-" she paused, "I mean at the old house. And I only have this old cooker to make anything on." Kat gestured to the back of the room where there was an old, rusty cooker shoved in the corner. It definitely looked as though it had had better days- the door to the oven kept swinging open and shut and the gas fire on the hob kept flickering on and off dangerously.

"I expect it turn out a bit like a Shepard's Pie." Kat continued, her voice hollow, "It's just tomato soup, vegetables and mashed potatoes."

"It sounds great. Do you want some help with that?" Molly offered walking over where her mum was struggling to attach the legs to the surface of the table. Kat's hands shook slightly as she fiddled with the screws and Molly could see a single tear forming in the corner of her mum's eye.

"Mum, why don't you go find the chairs while I finish the table off. I think I spotted them near the bottom of the stairs."

Taking the hint, Kat slowly got to her feet and headed out to locate the chairs while Molly finished foxing on the last two legs of the old table. They had plans to completely decorate the bathroom, kitchen and living room so had only brought with them the old, cheap furniture which would suffice until replaced properly.

Righting the rickety table, Molly called for Willow, who bounded in from the garden and ran around the kitchen excitedly before spotting her tail and stopping to chase that instead. _'At least Willow's enjoying herself'_ Molly thought as she bent down to play with the puppy.

Molly and Kat were soon dining together in the makeshift kitchen, eating from the first chipped plates they could find in the array of boxes with plastic cutlery. Willow sat next to the table, whining every so often and getting up to search around the room. Molly kept her eyes fixed on her food; she knew that what Willow did when someone was missing from the family.

Just as Molly was scraping the last couple of peas from her plate, there was a distant hooting sound, and her beautiful boreal owl, Pepper, flew in through the back door. She perched on the back of Molly's chair, an envelope tied her leg. Across the table, Kat tensed slightly but remained silent as her daughter undid the letter and slid it open.

Molly coughed awkwardly before announcing, "It's from Hogwarts, my list of equipment for next term." Kat glanced up but Molly continued quickly, "But we don't need to worry about that for now, we still have a few weeks."

Pepper pecked impatiently at Molly's ear before jumping onto the table and gobbling up the remaining food from the plates.

"Mum, I'm so sorr-" Molly began.

"I'll do the dishes, sweetie." Kat interrupted, "I'll have to use the bathroom sink; this one doesn't work. You can go see your uncle and cousins if you want or stay here and work on unpacking these boxes."

"I'll stay and find some off Willow's stuff. I'll put her bed and toys in my room for now," Molly replied as she reluctantly got to her feet, stroking Pepper on the back of the head as she did so.

The next few days were worse than torture for everyone. Fred returned only out of guilt about leaving Molly. Every day found the three of them packing, painting or decorating in a different room. Each evening, Kat cooked dinner and left it on the table for the others to collect of their own accord. Breakfast and lunch consisted of separate meals being individually made and taken to respective rooms to be eaten. The only few things Molly enjoyed about the week were the occasional visits from George- which seemed to at least cheer Fred up considerably- and escaping the cottage to walk Willow.

One evening, when Molly's patience had finally snapped and she had stormed out the house, dragging poor Willow behind her, she found herself heading straight towards the Burrow. When she had set out, Molly didn't really have much of an idea as to where she would end up, but as she stood in front of her grandparents front door, she knew, exactly what she was going to do.

Mrs Weasley gave better advice than anyone Molly knew. Her grandmother could tolerate the most ridiculous of rants and still know precisely what to say to calm anyone down. After raising seven children, Mrs Weasley had experienced daily dramas, therefore knowing better than anyone how to go about fixing a problem or resolving an argument.

Within five minutes, Molly had been ushered through the front door, had a steaming mug of hot chocolate forced into her hands, been lectured about how she shouldn't have left the house alone so late at night in the cold rain before her grandmother finally asked her why she had come over.

"Mum and dad are fighting," Molly muttered to her grandmother's back.

Immediately, the dish cloth was dropped and the tap turned off, and faster than Molly's eyes could follow, her grandmother was in the chair next to her, wiping her wet hands on her apron and looking at her granddaughter in concern.

Molly explained everything to her grandma; how she understood both the opinions of her mother and father, but didn't know what to think herself. How Fred often left to visit George and how the family were rarely seen in the same room together for more than a few minutes. And finally, how she felt that it was her fault.

"After all," she had reasoned, "if it weren't for me, dad never would have had to risk his life so many times to keep everyone safe, and mum would have been able to keep her perfect magic-free life."

"Sweetie," Mrs Weasley began, gripping her sobbing granddaughter in the most motherly hug she could muster, "none of this is your fault. Think of all the good that came from you attending Hogwarts last year." When Molly just stared blankly, she continued, "Think of your uncle George. You didn't have to see what he was like before your dad came back and saved the day. I can't even explain to you how horrible the last twenty-one years have been. You and your dad put a smile back on our faces."

At this point, Willow, who had been curled up next to the fire, plodded over to Molly and rested her head on her owner's knee.

"Your mother stills loves you, dear, witch or not."

"But what if she doesn't love dad?" Molly sniffled.

"Your father, as immature and childish as he can be, is trying very hard to do the right thing. He believes that fixing things here, where he was born and grew up, is more important than worrying about arguments. He fought- died even, for our world."

"But he's apologised to everyone! Why can't he make mum happy now?" Molly wailed.

"Molly, dear, I watched your father grow up. He was a troublemaker, always was. He told jokes, pulled pranks and was never seen without a smile on his face. Your dad and your uncle George lived to make people happy. To make people smile. But the one thing he always put before any of his silly little pranks was his family. Now, he knows he' s done something wrong, and he thinks he has to make up for twenty years of lost jokes and pranks. The guilt he feels for putting something else before his parents, his siblings, his twin, is greater than any guilt any of us have ever experienced."

"I want him and mum to stop fighting!" Molly whimpered into her grandma's shoulder.

"I know you do." Mrs Weasley's heart broke for the little girl. In just under a year, her entire life had been flipped and the two people who should be helping support her were arguing. She gazed at the forgotten mug of hot chocolate and an idea popped into her head. She held Molly in front of her and wiped away the stream of tears which would soon flood the kitchen.

"You should head home now. Your parents will be worried." Molly scoffed but Mrs Weasley ignored her.

"That cottage isn't home," Molly said sadly, "not when mum and dad don't do anything but argue. That can't be anyone's home."

Just as she was about to leave the Burrow, Molly turned around to face her grandma, "The Burrow's quiet without anyone here."

"No dear. Not quiet. It's peaceful."

Molly turned to walk home with Willow, so she didn't hear Mrs Weasley mutter 'and it's awful' and she didn't see the steady flow of tears which began to roll down her grandma's cheeks.

Because in reality, Mrs Weasley missed her children's youth, and she missed the chaos.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Diagon Alley. Molly always felt a sense of peace when shopping at Diagon Alley. She was surrounded by people like her. Wizards who were proud of their magic. She loved browsing the various stores, always finding something new about her wondrous world. She loved helping out in her dad's shop, making people laugh and leave with a smile on their face.

School shopping, however, was her favourite. With every new textbook or piece of equipment, Molly became more and more excited for school starting again. Her impatience and anticipation to start the new school year were overwhelming. She had a healthy stock of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes supplies stashed in her case to last her all year and everything she would need in bags around the house.

"Are you sure you have absolutely everything?" Fred asked, the evening before Molly was due to return to Hogwarts, "your mother would kill me if you forgot something."

They stood outside the joke shop after closing time. Molly had been helping out all day, leaving Kat at home to finish the house.

Molly giggled, "I'm sure, dad."

"Books?"

"Yep."

"Quills?"

"Uh-huh."

"Parchment?"

"Definitely."

Fred leaned in to whisper, "Pranking essentials?"

"Actually," Molly joked, "I thought I'd leave those. Not very important, you know? From an awful business, too."

"I think you'll find that those products are from _the_ best joke shop in Britain," Fred laughed.

"And you would know that because…?"

"Trust me, I've been to plenty. Muggle shops are awful, you know."

"Anyway…"

"Right, you wait here, I'll tidy up and lock the shop up."

Still chuckling slightly, Fred turned and went back into the shop. Molly sat on the cold pavement to wait, glancing around the deserted alley. After a moment, her eyes fell on a dirty sign, pointing towards a lane which was seemingly unused. Molly got to her feet and made her way slowly towards the street. She squinted slightly to read the filth covered sign. 'Knockturn Alley'.

The lane was dark and eerie, with moss growing up every wall. Hushed voices seemed to follow Molly. While the cobbled pavement was dirty and grimy, each shop was perfectly clean, dim lights in the windows casting long shadows inside. Vague figures cloaked in black bustled around the shops, each hunched over and lurking in the darkest corners.

One shop belonging to an undertaker had lines of human skeletons pinned on the back wall, a plaque above each one. Another shop sold all sorts of medieval forms of torture and punishment, all adapted slightly. There was a noose in the window which had the rope lined with sharp metal spikes which were tinted red and moved continuously around the loop. Molly sincerely hoped that it hadn't been used.

The entire alley reeked of dark magic so it wasn't long before Molly turned and started to speed back through the lane in what she hoped was the direction of Diagon Alley.

Just as she was about to step past the old sign, however, a loud creak stopped her in her tracks.

"My dear girl," the voice sent shivers down her spine, "I have something you might be interested in."

Molly didn't turn around. Although she had never heard the voice before, something about it put her on high alert.

"No… no thank you," she stammered, "I'm not interested."

"Oh, but you are. I can just about see the curiosity bursting from your little mind."

The voice was rough and hoarse, as though it hadn't been used in years.

Still without turning, Molly managed to stutter, "No, thank you. I really-"

"My dear, I think it would be a _very_ good idea if you came into my shop."

Molly gulped, she could feel the tip of a wand being pushed into the back of her neck. "Actually, yeah. I might just come in, good plan."

"Clever girl. Very clever girl."

The wizard, staying hidden behind Molly, slowly turned her around and guided Molly into the shop and closed the creaky door behind them.

A/N: Oooh, might something interesting finally be happening? Took long enough


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry for all the short chapters. I'm trying to upload more so I don't forget but my chapters are so short! I'll probably upload another (hopefully longer) one today or tomorrow to tr and make up for it.

Thank you to the two reviews I got. They're both really lovely thank you so much. I'm glad you're enjoying the story, it's unreal to think that people are actually reading this!

I promise the story will get more exciting very soon, sorry again for the lack of decent lengthed chapters!

Love Fi xx

Chapter 6

It didn't feel right in the shop. It was perfect. Every surface dusted and polished, the floor varnished and swept. It was well used and clean, unlike the abandoned street on which it was placed. The fireplace especially was immaculate, a pot of white Floo powder on the mantelpiece. And then it clicked into place inside Molly's brain.

All the shops in this Alley, despite looking old and unused from the outside, were all very much still in business via the Floo network. Everyone knew that even after the war dark wizards were very much still at large. Naturally, they weren't going to wander around the streets, in fear of being caught. So instead, they travel from place to place using their fireplaces. 'Cowards', Molly thought, making a mental note to tell her aunt Hermione to remove all the fireplaces on Knockturn Alley from the network.

The wizard who had ushered her into the shop had vanished behind the counter, muttering to himself. Molly looked around the shop. Old fashioned lamps lined the walls above shelves and shelves stacked full of potions and dodgy looking ingredients. Refusing the temptation to gag at the truly disgusting smell was more than difficult for Molly. She imagined the stench just about compared to a combination of rotten eggs, old fish and her dad's socks.

After a few more minutes of shuffling behind the desk, the short man, who still stayed cowering in the shadows, reappeared, clutching a small phial. The liquid inside the vial was a deep purple colour and flecks of green floated at the surface.

"For you, my dear," the man growled, forcing the potion into Molly's hand.

"N-no thanks," Molly said turning back towards the door.

"Are you sure?" the strange figure taunted, "You don't even know what it does yet."

"I really don't think I need to. I'll just-"

"It might help you. I know who you are, Molly. I've seen your face in the papers, watched you leave that wretched joke shop every day."

Molly raised her eyebrows, fear rising up inside her. Somehow, she managed to keep her cool and stutter, "Well that's…." 'creepy' she thought, "nice."

"You're not happy. That," he pointed a skeletal finger to the potion in Molly's trembling hand, "can fix it."

"No," Molly insisted, putting the phial back on the counter. "I'm perfectly happy thank you."

Just as the doorknob was turning to release Molly, the voice spoke again, "One wish," he said, "that's what it gives you."

Molly stopped just as she was about to open the door, "What?"

"One wish," the man repeated.

"What- what's the catch?" Molly asked, turning slightly to look at the small container.

"No catch. Just one wish." He picked up the potion and Molly could taste the satisfaction pouring from the man. "Use it very carefully."

She shouldn't. She knew she shouldn't. A creepy man takes her into his creepy store, claiming that he knows who she is, and gives her a creepy potion. That situation screamed 'no' to anyone with a brain. Yet still, curiosity took over and Molly took the vial. Quickly, she pocketed and left the store and hurried back to Diagon Alley, unknowingly leaving a scheming old man smirking in his store.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Molly retook her place on the kerb, Fred closed and locked the back door to the joke shop. She was very aware of the potion sloshing around in its phial in her pocket but chose to ignore it, shoving her hand around the container to keep it in place.

"Ready to go, Mol?" Fred asked his daughter who was staring intently at the door. When she didn't reply, he continued, "Mol, what's wrong?"

"Dad, where's Uncle George?"

"Oh, he's downstairs in the basement," Fred replied easily. Then the realisation hit him and his mouth formed an 'oh' shape. In only a few seconds, Fred had unlocked the door, swung it open and raced back into the shop, returning a few minutes later with a rather disgruntled looking George.

George slapped Fred across the back of the head, grumbling sarcastically, "Just lock me in the basement, why don't you?"

Fred laughed, "Sorry, mate. I really didn't know you were down there."

By this point, Molly could barely stand up because she was laughing so much. This, however, earned her a soft, joking slap across the back of her head from her dad.

"Oi! That right there is child abuse," Molly joked.

"Is not!" Fred protested.

George tutted, "I might have to report that, mate."

Fred faked looking offended, "You wouldn't!"

"I would," George threatened.

"You can't" Fred cried, a grin plastered on his face, "She's all I have! I'll be alone!"

Molly looked up just as Fred's mistake dawned on him. George stood between the two awkwardly; he, of course, knew about the arguments between his brother and sister-in-law, but, having no experience in the matter, could offer no advice to help.

"What about mum?" Molly said quietly.

"Mol, I was only joking. We were messing around, I didn't mean it like that. I love both of you, I-"

"I know," Molly said quietly, "Let's just go home."

George coughed awkwardly, "Anyone want to come back to mine for a bit? You can have dinner with us; Roxy and Fred have been dying to see you for ages, Mol."

In George's mind, taking Fred and Molly home for a bit would reduce the chances of Fred ending up trailing back over to stay overnight. The less time they spent at home, the less opportunity for arguments and, hopefully, the happier his brother is.

"What do you reckon, Mol? Want to have dinner with your smelly old uncle and cousins?"

"Old?" George repeated, "I'm the same age as you, you prat."

"That may be, but I aged gracefully, brother dear. You, however-"

"We're identical twins!" George cried, "Identical!"

Fred raised an eyebrow, "I don't know," he said dubiously, "You need a shave. And you're missing an ear. Prat."

George slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Anyway," Molly prompted, "dinner?"

"Dinner, yes," Fred exclaimed, "To the house of the smelly old uncle."

Molly took her dad's hand and Fred disapparated, still laughing quietly.

When they had appeared outside George's house and Molly's feeling of nausea had passed, she said, "I'll quickly run home and tell mum where we are. Just to make sure she doesn't cook dinner for us too."

"She won't," Fred muttered under his breath to his daughter's retreating back. George glanced up sympathetically and clapped a hand on Fred's back.

"Come, brother dear. Let us announce our presence in my most humble abode."

Fred laughed. "Wow, I haven't seen this place in ages! How long has it been now?"

"Oh, at least 20 hours," George mocked.

After another argument the previous afternoon, Fred had yet again ended up on his twin's doorstep and stayed for a few hours, working on products and messing about with Fred and Roxanne before returning home sheepishly very late at night.

"20 whole hours!" Fred exclaimed, wheezing with laughter, "Too long indeed."

By the time the two had calmed down, Molly had reappeared.

"Mum wasn't in," she said, "There was a note in the kitchen saying she'd gone out for dinner with some friends from work."

Fred raised an eyebrow suspiciously but still said, "Thanks anyway, Mol."

The three of them filed into George's porch.

"Welcome to chaos," he said, swinging open the front door to let Molly and Fred in.

Within seconds, Fred jnr. had launched himself into his dad's arms and Roxanne was waiting excitedly to talk to Molly. Fred jnr. however, beat his sister to it.

"Molly!" he cried, "Molly, I'm so excited! I finally get to go to Hogwarts! And Lily and Molly are starting this year too!"

"Fred, sweetie, let the poor girl through the front door," Angelina chided, pecking George on the cheek and hugging Fred as they entered.

"Molly what if I'm not in Gryffindor?" Fred jnr. suddenly said, "Everyone else is! You and James and Rose!"

Angelina sighed, "Fred, how many times do we have to tell you that it doesn't matter what house you're sorted into. Albus isn't in Gryffindor and he's doing just fine."

"But Albus is a grumpy pants."

George laughed while Angelina shook her head in despair.

"Fred, you'll be fine wherever you are," Fred told his nephew, smiling mischievously, "But just between you and me, I'll be very disappointed if you don't make it into Gryffindor. I can't have you living down the name of Fred Weasley."

Fred jnr's face fell and fear grew in his eyes. George laughed even harder while Angelina turned to face her husband's twin. "Fred!"

"Yes?" both Freds replied, smirking.

"Older Fred!" Angelina said, "Stop winding Fred- no, not yourself, the other one- stop winding him up!"

Roxanne and Molly, who were sitting together on the kitchen counter, couldn't hold back their laughter. Fred winked at his daughter before taking a seat next to Angelina at the kitchen table.

"Honestly," George said, tussling his brother's hair, "I don't think we should be letting this lunatic in our house, Angie. Locked me in the basement, he did. And forgot about me. I reckon he would have left me there if Molly hadn't reminded him."

"Now see here," Fred stood up to face his brother, "You didn't tell me you were down there. Last I saw you were trying to catch that pygmy puff."

"What pygmy puff?" Roxanne asked.

"Your stupid dad let a pygmy puff loose in the shop," Fred laughed.

"It's not my fault!" George cried.

"Sorry mate, but who left the cage wide open?"

"I stood in front of it! I was only showing one to a customer!" George protested.

"They're alive you twit! They can walk around your legs!"

"So anyway," Molly interrupted, "This pygmy puff was running around the shop for about an hour. Knocked over all the Wonder Witch stand-"

"Actually that was Fred," George joked.

"Tripped up at least five customers-"

"That was Fred too."

"Pooed on the counter-"

"Again, Fred."

"Oi!" Fred protested.

"And then took shelter under the cauldron full of Skiving Snackboxes."

The entire kitchen was full of people crying with laughter.

"And little George couldn't even catch it!" Fred teased his brother.

"I didn't see you trying."

"I was busy!"

And so the night continued, full of laughter, light hearted conversation and joy so that Molly and Fred returned home with aching jaws from constant grinning.

A/N: Woah, could this possibly be a decently lengthed chapter? Shame it isn't too exciting aha.

So anyway I'm tossing this idea around in my head about a little side thing in the story and can't decide whether it would be too cliche or make the story too complicated! Obviously it's hard to help when you don't know the idea but what would you do if you had an idea which you wanted to include in a fic but can't decide? Pls give advice!

Thanks for reading, love Fi xx


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: he he I'm awful, sorry. Ik it's been about two weeks since I last uploaded; I was at the Edinburgh Fringe performing with my theatre group for one them and then I guess I'm just lazy. This chapter's not that interesting but it's a chapter and more will come shortly. Obviously school's restarting soon which will make it difficult but not impossible.

Sorry again, enjoy :D xx

Chapter 8

King's Cross Station was a peculiar sight the next morning. An army of red-heads was marching toward the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, armed with cases and birdcages.

"Right everyone, through quickly!" the grandma of the group called out to the rest, ushering them towards the barrier. "That's right Fred dear, it isn't that scary really. Rose, wait for everyone else. Oh, Albus, the barrier's over here, that's the train to Newcastle."

One by one, the group began to vanish through to Platform 9 ¾; it was a miracle such a noticeable party wasn't noticed by nearby muggles.

The scarlet engine was just as beautiful as ever. Soft puffs of smoke erupted around the platform which was packed with excited students and their parents. Kat followed silently behind Fred, George, Angelina, Fred jnr. and Molly. Roxanne had been left with Mrs Weasley as she had been crying non-stop for several hours about how unfair it was that her brother got to go to Hogwarts and she had to wait another year. Soon, the small group was joined by Oliver Wood and Alicia with their son, Jamie. Oliver was beaming widely and it didn't take long for George and Fred to figure out why.

"Trying out for the Quidditch team this year, Jamie?" George asked, gesturing to the broomstick in the young boy's hand.

Jamie opened his mouth to answer but Oliver jumped in before he could, "Of course he is! Jamie's a great chaser, aren't you son?"

Jamie forced a smile and leaned in to whisper to Molly, "Mum and dad have been training me all summer. Dad's dead disappointed that I'm not a good keeper like him; he says I'm good enough to be captain when I'm old enough but I think he's just saying that."

Molly laughed, "I bet you're amazing."

"Are you trying out?" he asked.

"I forgot my broom," Molly chuckled, "I don't reckon I'm good enough anyway, I'll keep Quidditch as a hobby I think."

"Don't be so modest, Mol," Fred chided, "We've all seen you play. Brilliant you are."

"I wouldn't be surprised if your dad hid your broom so you couldn't take it anyway," George said thoughtfully, "He doesn't like that you're better than him."

"That good are you?" Oliver asked, eyebrow raised.

"No, it's not that difficult to be better than Fred. After all these years, he's forgotten which way the broom goes," George teased.

Ignoring his brother, Fred turned to Molly, "I'll owl your broom over if you want, you'd make the team for definite. In fact, I'll ride it over myself, free delivery and you get to see me."

"Oi, bring me too!" George exclaimed, "I bet old McGonagall would love to see us again. We could even pull one or two-"

"-or nine-"

"-pranks while we're there. Wouldn't want to waste the long journey."

"Owl post will be fine," Molly decided.

"Not even if I make George hang upside from the broom for the entire journey like a sloth? And tie a very long, sparkly feather boa around his neck?"

"Definitely owl post," Molly laughed, "unless you bring an actual sloth in a feather boa for comparison."

"Consider it done," George said, stepping forward and shaking his niece's hand officially, "One sloth in a feather boa to be delivered on a broom stick as soon as possible."

Fred jnr., Jamie and Molly were still laughing as they boarded the train. Kat stood sulkily behind her husband and brother-in-law to wave Molly off, her face set in a permanent frown. Fred was also filled with worry. Without Molly at home to keep the peace at home, how many times a day would Fred storm out the house because of the smallest little argument with his wife? Would George's house become his long-term residence?

Even Molly was forcing a smile as the train pulled away from the station; she dreaded to think what might happen while she was away.

Once her parents were out of sight, Molly turned to her cousin, "Come on, Fred. We'll find you someone to sit with."

"I'm going to find Matt and Rosie," Jamie said, "I'll see you later," he added with a smile.

"I won't be long," Molly called to his retreating back.

Jamie gave her a thumbs up over his shoulder and Molly looked down at Fred who was glancing nervously around the train. "Let's go."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After finding a carriage full of equally terrified looking first-years- including Lily- and leaving Fred with them, Molly continued to push her way down the train to find her friends.

Spotting several manic hands waving at her through a compartment window, Molly slid open the door, just to be tackled to the floor with a hug from her best friend, Rosie Starke.

"I missed you!" Rosie shouted as she launched herself into her friend's arms, "Six weeks is way too long, they really need to shorten the holidays."

Molly laughed and pushed her soft ginger hair out of her face, "You get to see me all day every day for nine months, Roz. Don't you get sick of me?"

"Sick of you?" Rosie repeated, shocked. "Never!"

The girls helped each other off the floor and Molly looked around the rest of the compartment. Her other best friend, Matt Carpenter, sat next to Jamie, engrossed in conversation with another Hufflepuff boy who Molly vaguely recognised. Opposite the boys, sat Kitty Weaver, the excitable Slytherin girl who the Gryffindors had befriended last year. Molly and Rosie took a seat on either side of Kitty. Rosie swung her legs up and used the other two's knees as a foot rest.

The Hufflepuff boy next to Matt looked up at the girls opposite him and raised an eyebrow at Molly.

"You're Molly, right?" he asked, running a hand through his hair which was a mix of brown shades, styled in a perfect quiff.

"Yeah," Molly replied, "Sorry, but erm, who are you?"

"Daniel Wilson. Pleasure."

"Hmm."

Molly wasn't overly impressed. Daniel seemed too perfect. Granted, that was her original opinion of Jamie, and now he was one of her best friends, but Daniel was like a girl's idea of 'perfect'. His face was perfectly chiselled, and he had a soft brown tan and beautiful green eyes. His British accent was tinted Australian and his voice was so smooth it made Molly cringe.

Looking at him and Jamie, Molly could tell why the two were such good friends. She knew half the girls in her year thought of them as gods, although that wasn't because they knew them properly and actually enjoyed their company.

Rosie, however, clearly thought the opposite of Molly and was smitten with the Hufflepuff.

"Where are you from?" Rosie asked, "I love your accent!"

Daniel laughed but kept his eyes on Molly, "I was born in Australia but I've lived here since I was five. My dad was Australian but he and my mum didn't work out; wizards do things differently in Australia apparently, my mum didn't like it so we moved back here."

"So you're a pureblood?" Rosie asked.

"Roz, stop interrogating him," Matt laughed.

With a scowl at Matt, Rosie turned instead to talk to Molly, "So, you moved house!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, and?"

"What's the house like? Is it nice?"

"Lovely," Molly said sarcastically.

"You don't like it?" Kitty asked.

"I love the house," Molly confessed, "It's mum and dad that are annoying me."

All her friends turned to look at her so she continued, "They won't stop arguing with each other! The tiniest little thing means dad storms out the house and stays with Uncle George. He sees Fred and Roxy more than me, and mum spends all day sulking."

"That's what it was like with my parents. They argued and then my mum spent the night in a separate room, and now-"

"You live on a different side of the world" Molly snapped, turning her nose up, "Really reassuring, thanks a lot."

"All I'm saying is-"

"In the politest way possible, I don't really care what you're saying."

The compartment fell silent. Daniel had a strange, fiery glint in his eye which Molly found quite disturbing. Matt and Rosie were both staring at Molly in concern after hearing about what was happening to their friend. Kitty and Jamie seemed torn as what to do and eventually started a very awkward conversation to ease the tension in the carriage. Molly remained silent, watching the students pass the compartment doors and deep in thought about her parents.

Eventually, Rosie stood up and announced that she'd be back soon, before hurrying out and sliding the door shut. Molly stared after her friend before glancing at Matt who looked equally confused. The two shrugged at each other and began a game of exploding snap.

The rest of the train journey was fairly uneventful. Rosie returned about ten minutes after she left looking solemn, but refused to tell anyone where she went. Molly somehow managed to hold conversations with Daniel without strangling him, which she saw as quite the achievement.

When the train screeched to a stop in Hogsmeade station, Molly was glad to escape the packed train and get some fresh air. She made her way over to the carriages with Matt, Kitty and Rosie, thankful that Jamie had taken Daniel off to the other Hufflepuffs. The four clambered into the carriage and chatted happily as they got closer to the castle. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Molly didn't pay much attention to the sorting ceremony or the welcoming feast. She already knew all the staff and all the rules. There were no changes to Professor McGonagall's speech and the food was just a delicious as usual. Fred and Lily joined them at the Gryffindor table, beaming widely. Molly winked and gave them a thumbs up. She was the only person in the hall who didn't go back for seconds of each course; her mind was too preoccupied to eat much.

Walking through the corridors and jumping the trick stair all just seemed to pass in a blur and Molly wasn't even paying enough attention to remember the password. As if in a trance, she climbed the stairs to her dormitory and didn't even bat an eyelid at the fact her luggage had all been transported up to her room. Half-heartedly, she greeted the other girls in her room and sat on her bed, pulling her bag towards her. From it, she removed the small vial of potion which she'd carefully wrapped up in cloth and placed it on her bedside table before unpacking the rest of her clothes and school equipment.

Without another word to the other second year, Gryffindor girls, Molly pulled the curtains around her bed, changed into her pyjamas and folded herself into bed. She remained awake for a few hours, listening vaguely to the conversation around her until the room fell silent. Completely convinced that there was way too much buzzing around in her mind for her to sleep, Molly sat up and read through some of the textbooks she'd been set for that year.

The next morning, when the rest of the dorm awoke, that was still how Molly sat. Hunched over a pile of books, eyes scanning line after line of information. Nothing about her seemed at all tired. Her face was alert and her hair was still braided perfectly as it had been the night before. So as she followed the rest of the girls down the spiral staircase to the common room, it was impossible to tell that Molly hadn't slept.

"Double Herbology, Potions and History of Magic," Rosie sighed, looking at her timetable, "That has to be _the_ most _boring_ day ever!"

"At least we have Potions with the Slytherins," Matt reasoned, "That's always a laugh."

"Oh and we have History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs!" Rosie squealed.

Matt and Molly turned to look at her. "Looking forward to seeing someone, are we?" Molly teased.

"What? No! It's that that erm, we won't have to put up with Binns' lesson alone!" Rosie stumbled over her words, her cheeks turning pink.

"Sure," Matt laughed, "We won't be offended if you want to sit with Daniel instead of us, you know."

"Oi! Speak for yourself!" Molly joked, "That's my best friend, I have every intention of sitting with her in the most boring lesson in school."

"Someone's cheered up, I see," Rosie said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, yesterday you spent the entire day sulking and ignoring everyone. Care to explain that?"

"I thought it was fairly obvious that Daniel was being a prat," Molly argued.

"So you hold a strop for hours afterwards?" Matt questioned.

"It was a touchy subject!" Molly protested, "Perhaps Rosie here would like to enlighten us as to where _she_ went on a certain train journey."

"I went to speak to your cousins," Rosie said simply.

"What? Why?"

"Because of what you told us about your parents. I wanted to see if they knew anything else."

"And you couldn't ask me, because…?"

"You weren't going to tell us in front of Kitty, Jamie or Daniel. Especially not Daniel."

"So what did you and your brilliant detective skills discover?"

"That your mum's annoyed at your dad and his family because she doesn't fit and your dad is spending more time with them than her."

"Who told you that?"

"James and Fred."

"Gits," Molly muttered.

"Hey!"

"What?"

"They're your cousins!"

"So? It's not like they heard and you know I love them really! Anyway, long story short, my mum got in a panic last year when everything was happening because it was basically torture for her staying home all the time. Then dad claims he wants to move house so he's closer to his family and he can make up for everything. Mum didn't want to leave our old house, I think she wanted to hold on to some normality."

"But you still moved," Matt said.

"Yep. And mum hates it. She tries to stop dad from using magic and then he says that he should be able to because it's part of who he is. He started leaving for work really early so he didn't have to see mum in the mornings and if they argued, he'd go straight to Uncle George's and not come back until the next day. Family meal time turned into grab some food and leave."

"Sounds like you had a fun summer," Matt said sarcastically.

"Yeah," Molly mumbled, "Brilliant."

"It'll be alright, Mol. Your mum will realise that your dad's just doing what's right. It's not like it's her fault she has to go through this mess."

Lessons were, as predicted, extremely boring, although Matt and Molly both got a laugh out of the face Rosie pulled when she saw Daniel in History of Magic. Her entire face blushed deeply and she began fiddling madly with her hair. Daniel, however, only had eyes for Molly, which Rosie didn't seem to notice. The Hufflepuff joined the three Gryffindors for the lesson (earning an excited squeal from Rosie and an exasperated sigh from Molly) and continuously tried to start a conversation with Molly. Just as she was considering throwing a Dung bomb at him, the bell rang and Molly and Matt sprinted towards the door.

"What a nightmare! I hope he doesn't do that every lesson!" Molly moaned.

"Hey Mol, you realise we have Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Hufflepuffs tomorrow morning right?" Matt said, "Roz will be happy."

"And I'll find myself using a Fever Fudge if Daniel comes anywhere near me."

After dinner, the three made their way back up to the common room together, exhausted from their first day back. They collapsed into sofas by the fire to scan the extract Professor Slughorn had asked them to read for their next Potions lesson.

The common room began to empty and the sky had completely darkened outside by the time Molly and Rosie were making their up to bed. There was only one thing on Molly's mind; she couldn't help but wonder what was happening at home without her. Why couldn't everything just be normal?

The girls flopped down onto Molly's bed.

All Molly wanted was for everything to be fine.

Rosie yawned and stretched out her arms.

She wished her parents could just be happy!

 _Smash._

The potion on Molly's beside table tumbled to the ground.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Green smoke engulfed the room. It weaved around the beds and filled the room with emerald fog.

"Hold your breath!" Rosie shouted, indicating to her mouth and nose and running towards the window. Molly, however, was in shock. She stared at the broken glass, panting heavily. Fear filled her eyes- she didn't know what the potion was meant to do and now it was everywhere! Her head began to spin and suddenly she was seeing everything in double. The entire room was rotating around her and the smoke was being sucked into her lungs. The temperature seemed to be rising rapidly but Molly sat shivering on her bed, knees trembling and jaw clenched against a non-existent chill.

Slowly the fumes began to leave the room, dispersing out the now wide-open window. Molly statue-still, staring at a knot on the wooden floor. She could vaguely feel Rosie shaking her shoulder desperately, shouting her name. Everything was fuzzy and static, as though the world was a TV channel and the signal had failed.

Gradually, Molly's hearing and vision cleared and the ringing in her brain stopped, only for it to be replaced with waves of awful nausea.

"Hospital Wing," Molly managed to croak to Rosie, miraculously without throwing up all over her bedding. "Quickly."

Rosie hauled her friend off the bed and sprinted down the stairs, accidentally knocking into their roommates on the way.

"I'll explain later," Rosie shouted to the girls, Tara, Amy and Steph, "Got to dash."

On their way through the common room, the girls passed Matt who was finally making his way up to bed. Rosie grabbed his arm too and dragged both her friends through the school and towards the Hospital Wing.

The three burst into the infirmary and within a second, Madam Pomfrey was hurrying over to them.

"Whatever's going on? What on earth could have happened at this time of night? Mr Carpenter?" she demanded, looking at Matt.

"I don't actually know what happened," he muttered sheepishly, "The girls passed me on their way here and dragged me along too."

"Miss Starke?" Madam Pomfrey sighed, turning to Rosie, "Would you care to explain?"

Too out of breath to answer vocally, Rosie raised a hand to point at Molly, whose face was practically transparent it was so pale and whose eyes were bloodshot and puffy.

"Sit down," the nurse ordered, indicating to a bed behind her.

Molly's limbs felt heavy as Matt and Rosie walked her over to the bed.

"Explain. I can't do anything to help without knowing what happened."

Molly looked up at Rosie, not trusting herself to open her mouth.

"Well, Molly had this weird vial on her bedside table, I'm not sure what it was, but we went upstairs to bed and I accidentally knocked it off when I stretched. It smashed on the floor and made these weird green fumes. I went to open the window but I think Mol breathed some of it in. She sat on her bed in the same position for ages and she wouldn't respond to me when I talked to her. She was shaking and her face went really pale, then she suddenly she was shouting at me to get her to the hospital wing," Rosie explained, looking at Molly with concern.

Molly hung her head in shame. She shouldn't have taken the potion to school, let alone put it on an open surface.

"So you inhaled fumes from a potion, is that correct, Miss Weasley?"

Molly nodded slightly without looking up.

"Could you tell me what the potion was?"

"No," Molly whispered, "I don't know what it was."

"Did you bring it to school with you yesterday?"

"Yes, but I was meaning to take it to Professor McGonagall or Professor Slughorn and ask if they could tell me what it was."

"Well I must say it was rather careless of you to bring an unknown potion into the school. Nevertheless, you don't appear to be in any danger. How did you feel when you breathed in the smoke?"

"Dizzy, then really hot then really cold. I felt like I'd be sick if I opened my mouth."

"And do you still feel like this now?" Molly shook her head so Madam Pomfrey continued, "Well you seem to be returning to normal. Could the three of you return to your dormitories? Return if you feel the need, Miss Weasley."


	12. Chapter 12

A/N:  Thanks to Blue Raging Fire111 for reviewing and being so supportive and thanks to everyone who's actually reading this story!

Chapter 12

Click, click, click.

The Hogwarts corridors were completely silent save from the echo of three student's footsteps as they trooped back to their common room.

A little way away from the Fat Lady's Portrait, Mat and Rosie stepped in front of Molly, blocking her path.

"What was that?" Rosie demanded quietly; it was way after curfew and they didn't particularly want to be caught out of bed at such an hour.

"I'll explain tomorrow, we can't get caught now!"

"And give you however many hours to think of an excuse overnight? I don't think so," Matt said, "What was that?"

"A potion," Molly sighed.

"Where did you get it?" Rosie whispered urgently.

"Some weird wizard made me take it," Molly said, "I don't know what it's meant to do but I was too scared he'd hurt or something and I had to get back to my dad so-"

"So you took it?" Rosie sighed loudly.

"Sh!" Matt hushed before turning to Molly, "You're an idiot."

"You would have done the same! That guy was seriously creepy, I don't know what he would have done if I hadn't," Molly explained, trying to push past her friends.

Matt caught her arm, concern filling his eyes, "Why didn't you tell your parents? Or us?"

"Mum and dad have way too much on their mind right now, I don't need to give my dad another reason to worry and my mum another reason to hate magic. If I brought home an unknown potion and told my parents, my mum would stress too much and an argument would start. The last thing any of us needs is _another_ fight, especially about me."

"What about us, Mol?" Matt said, "We're your best friends!"

"Or we're meant to be!" Rosie snapped coolly, "Although, after all your adventures last year I suppose you think we're not good enough for you?"

"What? No, Rosie, not at all it's just-"

"Yeah, you've said, Molly. Things are tough at home, blah, blah, blah. Well guess what? You're not the only one with a difficult life!"

"Roz, I know! I'm sorry! But we've been back at school all of two days! I wasn't exactly just going to waltz right up to you and go, 'Oh hey guys, how was your summer? By the way, some freaky dude on Knockturn Alley gave me some potion the other day!' Was I?"

"Knockturn Alley?" Matt repeated, shocked, "What on Earth were you doing there?"

Molly's face fell. She wasn't going to mention where she actually got the potion from, but she'd been so annoyed at Rosie, it just slipped out.

"I was waiting for my dad to lock up the shop and got bored," Molly said sheepishly.

"You're an idiot," Matt repeated.

"Such an idiot," Rosie added unhelpfully.

"Thanks, guys, I love you too," Molly muttered sarcastically, "Now let's get back to the common room before Anguis finds us."

They began to creep back through the halls, treading as lightly as they possibly could.

"So you really have no idea what it does?" Matt asked.

"Not a clue. I'm kind of hoping that because I didn't drink it then it won't affect anything," Molly admitted.

But before either of her friends could reply, a soft hissing sound wound its way into their ears and the three froze in fear. That hissing was a sound every student at Hogwarts learned to fear. Molly sighed and closed her eyes in annoyance. They were so close to the portrait- it was visible at the end of the corridor. Molly looked at Rosie then Matt and nodded.

They ran.

The Gryffindors sprinted toward their common room entrance and barked the password at the Fat Lady who was dozing in her frame. Waking with a start, the Fat Lady looked around her before her eyes fell on the students in front of her.

"What in Godric's name are you three doing up?"

Again, the students yelled the password, becoming jumpy and nervous. The soft hiss was gradually becoming louder and angrier as the school caretaker slithered towards them in her animagus form.

The deep green serpent was practically at the student's feet when they leaped through the portrait hole and into the safety of the common room. Without a word to Matt, Rosie and Molly bounded up the stairs to their dorm and collapsed onto their beds, completely out of breath and hearts racing.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Fred wished that he could write to his daughter reassuringly. He wished he could tell her honestly that everything was ok. But instead, he found himself sitting in front a blank piece of parchment, not knowing what to write. He and Kat rarely spoke and Fred didn't know if that was an improvement from their constant arguments or not. What he wasn't expecting, however, was the conversation he was about to have with his wife.

His pen- Kat insisted on binning every quill and piece of parchment in the house- was hovering above the paper when Kat awkwardly shuffled into the living room. She took a seat on the sofa and sighed heavily.

"This needs to stop, Freddie."

Fred spun around to face his wife, keeping a completely straight face.

"I'm sorry," Kat continued, "I've been a mess lately. I do understand what you're doing, and it's right, you're right. I can't tell you to change your life. You're a wizard and that's amazing, it really is. But what we're doing right now isn't fair- we're breaking poor Molly's heart and if you go to stay with George one more time, you may as well start paying rent! You have such a massive, amazing family, and I don't have anyone expect you and Mol."

Fred remained silent for a few moments. "My massive, amazing family is exactly the same size as your massive, amazing family. And it consists of exactly the same people. My family is _your_ family too." He paused and rubbed a hand across his face, "I'm sorry I was so impatient. Everything- well, most things- you've done or felt have been completely understandable. I can't imagine what it would be like to experience what you went through."

"Freddie, there's a reason I've been so snappy with you lately. I didn't want it to be true, I thought it was a mistake or a, I don't know, a glitch, especially considering everything that's been happening lately."

Kat couldn't sit still. She fidgeted and shuffled about as she spoke and Fred began to get worried. But when Kat finished what she was explaining, Fred suddenly realised how interesting his letter to his daughter would be.

"I'm pregnant."

A/N: Ooookkkk so ik some of you may not like this BUT please dont let it put you off this story! It won't affect the plot much at all it's a tiny little thing and this story in particular won't feature the affects of it that much so if you don't like the idea, I'm sorry, pls keep reading, it shouldn't feature too much anyway! Sorry guys!


	14. Chapter 14

A/N:  So more of you seemed to like the idea of the pregnancy than I'd thought so I might make it feature a little bit more than I had originally planned if that's ok with you guys? :D thanks to Blue Raging Fire111 (again 3) and lumigo akvo9504 for your reveiws xx

Chapter 14

Fred's face blanched. A million different thought sped through his mind.

In the end, all he could mutter was, "How far in?"

"Just over two months."

He fell silent, his brain was numb. He'd been ready to forgive Kat, ready to start afresh and move on.

"Freddie? Please say something, anything."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He kept a completely straight face, holding any emotion back from his voice and leaving Kat completely clueless as to what he truly felt.

"I- I didn't want to believe it myself! It's been nearly thirteen years since we had Molly, it seemed unreal!"

"You didn't want to believe it?" Fred asked.

"No! That's not what I meant! I just-"

"Sure," Fred snapped, "Give a minute?"

Kat gulped and nodded as Fred turned around and began to scribble a letter to Molly. Inside, Fred still felt completely deprived of emotion. He didn't know what to think, what to feel.

When he'd finished writing, Fred spun back around and pointed his pen at Kat, "This isn't a joke, right?"

"If only it were that simple," Kat sighed, "I'm telling the truth, Fred. I can show you proof from the doctors."

Fred sat forward and put his head in his hands, "Right."

"I know what you're going to say."

"Do you?"

"You still have to make things up with your family, you don't have time for-"

"There's still seven months, right? That's plenty time."

"So?"

"So what?"

"What do you think?"

"Think about…"

"The baby! I know things weren't working well for us before but-"

"I don't know. I'm going to talk to mum."

Fred got up, grabbed the letter from the desk and headed out the door.

Mrs Weasley opened to her son standing helplessly on the doorstep, tear tracks staining his face and eyes slightly red.

Hurriedly, she wrapped Fred in a hug and ushered him into the kitchen before shouting for George who was over visiting with Roxanne to cheer his daughter up. By the time Fred's twin appeared in the room, Mrs Weasley had made three large mugs of tea and placed them on the table.

George and Mrs Weasley looked expectantly at Fred.

"Kat's pregnant," he mumbled, leaning forward to bang his head on the table.

George's mouth fell open in shock.

A look of confusion, however, crossed Mrs Weasley's face, "Kat?"

Fred looked at his mother, "Yeah. You know, my wife Katherine? Mother of my daughter?"

"Oh of course!"

"Who else would I mean?" Fred was appalled and concerned. George however, simply stared at his brother in awe.

"Well done, mate. That's good going!"

Fred slapped his brother, "No it's not! Everything's too much of a mess right now to raise another kid!"

George's face suddenly turned sympathetic, "Forge, what if that's the point?"

Fred looked up at his brother in confusion.

"Well we already know Kat's jealous that you're spending so much time with us instead of her. Getting pregnant and having a baby means you'll have to be at home with her!"

"Kat wouldn't-"

"I'm just saying it's a possibility."

Mrs Weasley sipped her tea thoughtfully, "Fred, dear? Are you sure it's definitely yours?"

George and Fred looked at their mother in shock. "Mum!"

"I'm just checking! You both know what things are like right now, I don't want this to get stupidly out of hand."

"What do I do, mum? She didn't tell me about this for nearly two months! She was rude and impatient and she lied to me! I don't know if I'm ready to forgive her, let alone raise another child with her!"

"Fred, mate, leave it for a while. See if she's lying or tricking you because it's not worth getting worked up about it if she is."

"What about Molly? Do I tell her?"

"Leave Kat to," George said simply, "If she writes to Mol, she's probably being honest."

"Right." Fred got to his feet and headed to the door, "Thanks for the tea, mum. See you tomorrow, Georgie."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Breakfast at Hogwarts was an interesting hour for Molly and her friends.

As they did every morning, the three sat in their usual seats three-quarters of the way down the table. What they weren't expecting, however, was to see a small serpent head appear on the bench next to them.

Matt cursed as the snake slithered out from under the table and transformed into the grumpy caretaker they all recognised. Her dark hair was braided neatly and lay over her left shoulder. There didn't seem to be an inch of fat on her entire body and her posture was hunched, meaning Matt often said she had the figure of a banana. Due to her extraordinary height, Miss Anguis always seemed to be looming over whomever she talked to, making conversation awkward, to say the least.

Nevertheless, Matt looked up at the caretaker, "Good morning, Miss Anguis! How are you this fine day?"

"Considerably better now that I'm about to give three students the detentions they deserve," the woman sneered, "Out of bed at ridiculous hours, eh?"

"Well, actually-" Rosie began.

"I don't particularly care much for the excuse I'm sure you've cooked up. I'll see you tomorrow evening, the three of you in the main entrance for your detention."

"Yay! Detention with the snake, my favourite way to spend evenings," Molly said sarcastically, swirling her fork around her plate, "What a brilliant way to start the morning."

She sighed and stared intensely at her bacon.

"Oh look!" Matt exclaimed, pointing up at the ceiling above him, "Post!"

Sure enough, hundreds of beautiful owls were swooping to the Great Hall, dropping letters and diving down to steal the occasional piece of toast. Surprisingly, Pepper soon joined Molly and her friends at the Gryffindor table, a single letter tied to her leg. Molly stroked her owl's head gently and removed the note as Rosie fed Pepper a piece of apple.

Molly's eyes scanned over the note. Her mouth fell open. She read it and re-read it over and over, desperately searching for any sign that might just show that what seemed to be her mother's handwriting was in fact forgery, and this was all a crazy prank. But it wasn't. This was as real as the castle around her.

Matt and Rosie were looking curiously at their best friend. Molly was still staring at the letter in shock.

"Molly?"

"I- I'll- I'll see you in Herbology," Molly stuttered, thrusting the note into Matt's hands and hurrying out of the hall. As soon as she was out of sight, Molly began to run. She ran and she ran through the Hogwarts corridors, not even paying attention to where she was going.

She didn't care when she realised she was lost; it meant fewer people would be able to find her. She didn't care that she had no clue whatsoever how to get back to the common room. And she didn't care that she hadn't seen a Hogwarts student or professor for at least ten minutes. The more isolated she was, the better.

Choosing a perfectly sized nook in the wall for her to curl up in, Molly folded herself away and allowed herself to really think about the letter her mother had sent her. She was going to be an older sister. It was as though her brain couldn't really process it. Everything seemed a bit fuzzy in her mind. Thoughts swam around inside her, colliding and shouting at her. Molly dreaded to think what things were like at home. Had this caused more arguments, or had it fixed the problems?

She leaned her head on the wall next to her and stared absent-mindedly into nothing. Why did her life have to be so chaotic?

Unknowingly, Molly sat in that little nook for hours. It felt like minutes, seconds, even, but, in fact, it was very late in the evening when her friends and the teachers really began to get worried. Molly had run off at breakfast and when Rosie and Matt appeared in Angelina's office, it was hours after dinner.

Matt presented the letter to Angelina and watched as the professor's face fell and blanched.

"And you haven't seen her since breakfast?"

"Nope," Rosie confirmed, "We'd just got downstairs for breakfast when the owl post came. She opened the letter then ran off! She said she'd see us in Herbology but-"

"She didn't turn up," Matt finished, "She wasn't in the common room-"

"Or the bathroom-"

"Any of the lessons-"

"The library-"

"Right! You can't find her. Go back to the common room, I'll fetch Professor McGonagall and make sure we find her. I'm sure there's no need to worry."

Matt opened his mouth as if to protest, but then thought the better of it and simply nodded. He and Rosie bid their head of house goodnight and left silently. As soon as the students were gone, Angelina took off at a sprint towards the headmistress's office. She bounded up staircases and yelled various passwords until finally, she burst through the door.

Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk keeping a watch over a quill which was filling out a large stack of paperwork.

"Sorry to disturb you Profe- erm Minerva," Angelina still wasn't used to calling her old teacher by her first name, even after many years.

"Angelina," McGonagall nodded in confusion, "Whatever can I do for you at this time of night?"

"It's Molly. Molly Weasley. She ran off at breakfast and nobody's seen her since. Her friends reckon she's gotten lost somewhere in the castle," Angelina let the words spill hurriedly from her mouth and showing McGonagall the letter.

McGonagall didn't seem to know what to do. Eventually, she managed to say, "Well we must find her! Search the castle, get any staff you come across to help you."

The two women rushed from the office and began to scour the school. They asked portraits and suits of armour to no avail.

"We'll never find her like this," Angelina sighed, "The castle's way too big to search properly in one night!"

"We don't need to search all the castle!" McGonagall exclaimed, "Just the obscure places, the places nobody goes!"

And so they searched. They looked in places of the school that even they hadn't seen before until finally- hours after midnight- Angelina spotted a small shadow of a figure huddled in a nook in the wall. "I'll go," she muttered quietly and began to make her way over to where Molly sat.

She squatted down next to her niece and gently placed a hand on Molly's shoulder. For a moment, Molly's eyes searched Angelina's face, then she plastered a smile onto her face and said cheekily, "You only came to find me because you want me for the Quidditch team. Don't even pretend that's not true."

Angelina smiled warmly, "Of course you'd be an asset to the team, but if we'd left you here, I'm sure we'd have found a replacement. Matt, maybe?"

"Oh please, Matt doesn't know which way is up, let alone how to play Quidditch."

"Why did you run off?" Angelina asked kindly.

"Would you believe it was hide-and-seek gone wrong?" Molly asked.

"It must have been a very serious game of hide-and-seek for you to stay hidden for nearly nineteen hours."

"Nineteen hours?" Molly repeated, shocked, "I mean- yeah, very serious. Very serious indeed. I don't want my hide-and-seek reputation ruined."

Angelina sighed and looked at her niece sadly, "Let's go back to the common room, yeah? You must be exhausted."

Molly yawned and nodded, well aware she'd face the consequences of the day's drama in the morning. She clambered shakily to her feet and stretched before following her aunt towards McGonagall.

"Aunt Ange- professor?"

Angelina smiled and looked down at Molly, "Yes?"

"My mum's-"

"I know."

"What do I do?"

Somewhere in the castle grounds, an owl hooted. The wind rustled leaves softly and blew tunes in the air.

"I don't know."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"She wasn't messing," Fred said as he and George opened the shop the next morning, "And now, I am stressing."

George stopped mid-step, "Woah!"

"What?" Fred asked irritably.

"That rhymed! You could be a poet Freddie boy!"

"No thanks."

"Mate, you'd be an amazing poet! Think of all the-" George stopped mid-sentence and looked up at his brother, "Right, sorry. So, who wasn't joking?"

"Kat!"

"Who?"

"Erm, my wife!"

"Oooohhhh," George paused, "What wasn't she joking about?"

"The fact she's pregnant!"

"Oh! Congratulations, mate!"

George moved forward to give Fred a hug but his twin pushed him away, a look of pure confusion on his face.

"Stop messing, George. This is serious."

"Messing? Mate, this is great! You're having a kid!"

"I've already got one, thank you very much. And that's difficult enough. Look, we've had this discussion before, it's bad news, right? George?"

"Sorry. You already have a kid?"

"Yes! You know Molly!"

"Since when do we call mum by her first name? And what does she have to do with this?"

"George!" Fred shouted, gradually becoming worried about his brother, "Are you alright? Did you hit your head or something?"

"What? No, I'm fine. Let's get this shop open, shall we?"

Fred nodded and followed his brother through the shop, flicking on lights and waving his wand at displays to activate them. He wasn't going to ignore George's weird behaviour but his twin was right- they needed to open the shop.

The two had a great morning in the shop. Business had quietened since term had started again so Fred and George didn't need any extra hands in the store to help. Fred spent most of his time in the back room, working on new products and producing stashes of the old ones while George worked in the front, entertaining customers.

At lunch, when the shop was at its quietest, Fred tidied away his ingredients and equipment to join George out front.

"So," Fred began as he took a bite out of his sandwich, care to explain how you completely forgot about the existence of my wife and daughter?"

George stared at his twin blankly. "Are you sure _I'm_ the one who hit his head? Mate, we're too young!"

"What? George, you sent your oldest child off to Hogwarts less than a week ago and the other one will be going next year!"

George began laughing crazily, nearly choking on his lunch a few times, "You're kidding, right?"

Fred wasn't kidding. He ran a hand through his hair, stood up and pulled the blinds down on the shop windows before grabbing his brother's arm and disapparating.

"Mum!" he yelled in irritation upon arriving in the Burrow, "Mum! George has gone mad!"

"What?" George retorted, "You're the one saying you have a kid and a pregnant wife!"

"That's because I do!"

"Who has a pregnant wife?" Mrs Weasley demanded, rubbing her wet hand on her apron as she approached the twins.

"I do!" Fred yelled, "You know I do!"

"I do? Fred dear, are you sure? I don't even remember your wedding!"

"Of course you don't! You weren't there!"

"Oh of course! Silly me! George, stop winding your brother up! He's going through-"

"I'm not winding him up! He's saying that I have two kids and that one of them's at Hogwarts!"

"That's because you do and he is! You have a boy, Fred and a girl, Roxanne! George mate, you've gone crackers!"

"Oh." Mrs Weasley's face fell.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked.

"Roxanne!"

Their mum vanished from view, leaving George staring confusedly at his brother and Fred sighing in frustrated exasperation. Mrs Weasley returned a few moments later, leading Roxanne whose face was stained with dried tears.

"Roxy!" George cried, running towards his daughter.

"Now you remember her!" Fred grumbled.

George tactfully ignored his twin and wrapped Roxanne in a hug, "What happened, sweetie?"

"Grandma left me upstairs by myself and there was a strange noise in the attic!" Roxanne wailed.

Mrs Weasley looked down at her apron sheepishly, "I honestly forgot she was here," she muttered, "The house was so quiet, it felt like the days when you were all at Hogwarts. And I was home alone. I'm sorry, dear." She too wrapped Roxanne in an apologetic hug.

"What was the weird noise?" Roxy sniffled.

"It's only the poltergeist," George explained, "He's been up there since before even your Uncle Bill was born! He's completely harmless… unless you're trying to get to sleep; then he likes to play rock music with the pipes."

When Fred and George left a few moments later, Mrs Weasley's cheeks were still tinted red from embarrassment and Roxanne was looking suspiciously at her grandma.

"Something's weird about this," Fred muttered, "Why does everyone keep forgetting Kat?"

"Who?" George asked.

"You've got to be joking!"

George grinned and burst into laughter, "Of course I am! Now let's get back to that lovely shop of ours!"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

When Molly finally returned to the common room with Angelina, Matt and Rosie lay fast asleep on the sofas next to the fire. She didn't want to face their questions, not yet, so instead, Molly ran up to her dorm, grabbed some blankets and returned to the common room. Carefully, she covered Matt and Rosie before curling up on the huge armchair. The soft flames of the fire next to her and the gentle swoosh of the wind outside lulled Molly into an uneasy sleep.

The three woke up on Saturday morning to find that the rest of Gryffindor had already abandoned them to get breakfast. Molly yawned, stretched and turned to face the angry demons that were her best friends.

"Sleep well?" Molly asked, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly and trying for an innocent smile.

Instead of replying, however, Rosie, got slowly to her feet, took a step towards her friend and slapped her twice straight across the face.

"Yep," Molly groaned, "I deserved that."

"You deserve worse!" Rosie said as she wrapped Molly in a bone-crushing hug, "So much worse."

"Yeah," Matt agreed thoughtfully, "Maybe the fact we have an assessment in Transfiguration and you don't know what to study."

"Since when do we get assessments in lessons?" Molly asked.

"Since Professor McGonagall decided we need a proper way of monitoring progress throughout the year. We'll have three tests a year until we get to OWL level- one at the start of term, one halfway through the year, and then the end of year finals."

"And we have both the Transfiguration tests in the double lesson on Monday, practical first, then the theory so Professor Flitwick told us all what we need to revise." Rosie finished smugly.

"And you won't tell me?" Molly assumed.

"Definitely not! That's what you get for running off!"

"Urgh," Molly sighed and whacked her head off the arm of the sofa, "But I have the weekend, right? I can revise over the weekend!"

"Except," Rosie began, "We have detention tonight, a potions essay to write, a charms essay to finish, a potion method to learn and we have to practise transfiguring teapots."

"Ok," Molly thought, "But I could do all that today and then I have tomorrow to revise for the Transfiguration theory!"

"Only," Rosie interrupted, "it's Quidditch tryouts tomorrow. I thought you wanted to go?"

"But my broom isn't here yet so I can't try out if I don't have a broom."

"School brooms?" Matt suggested.

"Are you kidding?" Molly laughed, "When you're riding them, you have to do the exact opposite of what you actually want to happen. And if they were any slower, they would end up taking you back in time. And anyway they won't take all day. I'll get the full afternoon and evening at the very least!"

"And you expect to be able to revise over a year's worth of work in half a day? Good luck with that," Rosie said as she got to her feet, "I'm going to get breakfast. Coming?"

"In a minute," Matt replied.

"Alright. See you soon."

Once the portrait had closed behind Rosie, Matt turned to face Molly.

"She doesn't mean to be so horrible, you know," he said slowly, looking at Molly's crestfallen face.

"I know. You're not going to storm out in a huff too are you?" Molly asked quietly.

"Of course not!" Matt exclaimed, clambering to his feet and stepping towards Molly. He squeezed onto the armchair next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "I can't even begin to imagine what's going on inside your little head and I know you're having a rough time. It's not my job to abandon you just because you're dealing with a lot at the minute."

"I have to write back to mum," Molly said, smiling thankfully, "But I don't know what to say."

"Are you happy?"

"Happy?"

"Yes, happy. Are you glad that you're going to get a little sibling to torment, I mean, play with."

Molly laughed, "I suppose it'll be nice. But our house of crazy enough without a baby to worry about. Mum and dad can't go a day without arguing and when they aren't fighting, they're ignoring each other. That's not a house a baby should have to grow up in."

"It's not a house anyone should grow up in," Matt corrected, "You're technically still a child too and it's not fair for you to-"

"But I'm here for most of the year."

"It's your home!"

"Is it? Can it really be my home when-"

"Yes. Yes it can. It's the house where your family lives and I know for a fact that you love your family more than anything and anywhere that makes you happy is your home. Now, how about this- I'll write you a list of what you need to revise for Transfiguration and we'll finish off those Charms essays."

When Rosie returned from breakfast, she was holding a long package with a letter attached to the end of it. She marched over to where Molly and Matt sat and placed it in front of her friends. "Your broom came," Rosie said shortly before turning and heading towards the girl's dorms and storming off.

Molly pulled off the note and unfolded it gently. It read:

 _Mol, I'm not going to lie and pretend that everything's fine at home. I don't want to upset you but without you there, what was still standing has completely fallen apart. I assume mum told you her news; I don't know what to think but I hope you're excited. George and I are coming up to Hogsmeade next weekend to see about opening a shop there so I'll see if there's a way I can come visit (George wants to see your Aunt Angie anyway)._

 _Hoping to see you soon, dad._

Molly turned the letter slightly so Matt could read it too.

Whatever her friend was going to say was interrupted by Tara, Amy and Steph, the three girls who Molly and Rosie shared a room with, bursting into the common room and, upon seeing Molly, rushing over. A few seconds later, the three girls were followed by Jake Landes, one of Matt's best friends.

"You'll never guess what just happened," Tara said, flicking her ginger hair over her shoulder.

"Professor McGonagall just got taken away!" Steph whispered, somewhat loudly, "She's had to go to St Mungo's apparently."

"What? Why?" Molly asked, dropping her quill and splattering ink all over her parchment.

"She kept insisting that she wasn't headmistress! She came into the hall this morning and stopped halfway to the staff table." Steph explained.

"It was dead weird," Jake said, his dark eyes fixed on Steph. Molly smirked as Jake continued, "She started saying that the people who were in the hall weren't meant to be. She said it was some sort of mean prank and that Dumbledore was still headmaster!"

"She saw Professor Longbottom and Professor Weasley at the staff table and told them off because apparently, 'Students shouldn't be sitting at the staff table'!" Tara shrieked excitedly.

"She thought my auntie was a student?"

"Yep, and she wouldn't let anyone except Professor Flitwick and Professor Slughorn near her!" Amy confirmed.

"That's mental!" Matt said.

The girls all fled to go and gossip to some other poor Gryffindor, leaving Molly and Matt with Jake whose eyes were still fixed on Steph.

"She likes you too," Molly giggled, "She told me last year."

Jake's dark brown cheeks blushed bright pink, "Really?"

"Really. She's obsessed!"

"Well in that case," Jake wiggled his eyebrows, winked at his friends and turned to follow Steph and the girls.

Matt and Molly laughed as they watched him go, unaware of the dark magic surrounding them.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N:  I'm sorry about the super slow updates, I've had homework to do every night (I know it's a stupid excuse but it's true) I'll try and upload more frequently I promise! :(

Also , has anyone read the new Magnus Chase by Rick Riordan? I'm in love, would 100% recommend his books if you haven't read them.

Chapter 18 

And so the school year continued fairly normally. Things were changing gradually around the students, but the change was so slow, nobody noticed anything too strange.

Back at the Burrow, however, it was a bit more noticeable.

Every day after work, Fred and George would drop in at the Burrow to pick up Roxanne and to visit their parents. With every visit, the stranger the family acted. Until finally, things reached a whole new level of bad.

George stepped through the front door when his mother opened it and, after giving her a quick hug, continued into the living room. There sat a young girl, maybe ten or eleven years old, with dark ginger-black hair and a freckled face. She was contentedly reading the Daily Prophet when George stopped in the doorway.

"Mum," he called over his shoulder, "Who's this?"

At this, the young girl leapt to her feet and ran over to George, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Mum!"

"What are you yelling about-" Fred began as he joined his twin, "Who's that?"

"Erm-" George shook his head cluelessly and carefully removed himself from the little girl's grasp. Mrs Weasley bustled into the room behind her sons and also looked curiously at the girl.

"Now, how did you get here?" Mrs Weasley asked, looking the girl up and down.

"What do you mean?" The girl back away to the edge of the room, "Is this some mean prank?"

"Prank?" Fred repeated blankly, "Who are you?"

"Stop joking around!" The girl's voice was filled with panic as she stared at the adults.

"We aren't joking around!" George said, "You shouldn't be here!"

"Of course I should! You left me here this morning before you went to work!"

"Why would we do that?" George asked.

"Well, it's not like you could take me with you!"

"But-"

"Dad, I know you own a joke shop but this is ridiculous!"

"Dad?"

"Yes, dad!" The girl was shouting now, her face tinted pink, "I'm your daughter, Roxanne!"

"But I don't have- oh."

Fred looked at George, completely astounded, "You know who this is?"

"Y-yes," George stuttered, his face blanching, "I think so."

"George, dear," Mrs Weasley interrupted gently, "Who is this girl?"

"She's my daughter, I think."

"You think?"

"Yeah, me and Angie-"

"Angie? Angelina?"

"Yeah. She has a brother. I think. He's at Hogwarts."

"Mate, you're going loopy," Fred said, "There's no way you'd be able to keep that from me."

"You weren't there." George's gaze was fixed on the window sill as though he wasn't really living in the same time as his family.

"George," Fred took a step towards his brother, "George, can you name a single day where I haven't been by your side? Can you think of a day where I wasn't there? Where else would I have been?"

"You… you were dead. For twenty years, Fred. You were dead!"

"George!" Mrs Weasley took a step forward too but Fred put his arm out to stop his mother.

"George, neither of us are old enough to- oh my god," he stopped, "You're right. I- I died! We have kids."

"Boys!" Mrs Weasley forced past Fred's arm and looked at the twins, "You've only just left Hogw- oh."

George bent down and wrapped his arms strongly around his daughter. He muttered apologies into her ear, tears streaming down his face. When he hugged Roxanne, she felt real, not just an image as she had when she had first wrapped her arms around him. George knew this time that he was holding someone he loved, not a soulless figure.

Because that was how it felt before. When the unknown little girl had run up to her father, George didn't feel like he was embracing a living human. Instead, it was as though he was grasping the corpse of something _trying_ to live.

"That was weird," Fred muttered quietly, "It was like the past twenty-one years had just-"

"Not happened," Mrs Weasley finished, "None of it."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

George had never felt so guilty. As he sat with his daughter on his knee, he stroked her hair silently, hoping desperately he'd be forgiven. Fred and Mrs Weasley were talking in hushed voices in the kitchen so George couldn't hear any of their conversation except some occasional undistinguishable mumbling. He held his daughter close to him, taking in everything about her, trying desperately to remember every part of her.

George couldn't deny that he felt like _the_ worst father ever. Not only had he forgotten both his children but also his wife. The last twenty years of his life had blurred into nothing! He'd never felt so alien in his life. It had suddenly been twenty years earlier, and George hadn't married or had kids. In his mind, he and Fred were successfully running their business together; Fred hadn't died, for all he knew, the final Battle of Hogwarts hadn't even occurred.

After about half an hour, George pried himself away from his daughter and headed into the kitchen to join his brother and mum. The two had ended their conversation and were merely sitting at the table sipping tea when George entered.

"Urgh," George moaned, sitting down heavily next to Fred.

"What's up?" Fred asked, looking up at his brother.

"You're joking!"

"Erm, I'm not. Why would I be?"

"Fred, stop messing on!" George sighed, "It's not funny, this is serious."

"Yeah, very serious," Fred agreed awkwardly, "This, this current situation, which I totally understand by the way, is, of course, deadly serious."

George stared at his twin, mouth open in shock, "You really don't know what I'm talking about."

Fred coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "No."

George leapt to his feet and stormed into the living room, leading Fred by his arm. He walked over to his daughter, grabbed her arm too and disapperated.

Professor McGonagall hadn't yet returned from St. Mungo's, and with every day that passed, there was another teacher who entered the dining hall at breakfast and left pale-faced and confused.

"I don't get it!" Molly sighed one evening in the common room, "Professor Flitwick called me Ginny at least ten times just today! Fred told me earlier that in the space of one day, he'd been called George, Percy, Ron, Charlie and Bill!"

"Honestly, next thing we know, the teacher's will be sending James off to fight Death Eaters," Matt said, briefly glancing up from his homework.

"Professor Longbottom sat at the Gryffindor table at dinner, he sat there happily munching his food until a student asked him what he was doing."

Molly laughed, "What did he do then?"

"Turned bright red and shuffled back to the staff table, mumbling awkwardly about how he wanted to remind his students about their homework," Rosie laughed with her friend.

Matt, however, looked up again, his face grave. "That's not funny, though," he said, "Something… something not right is clearly going on. The teachers are going crazy!"

"They're forgetting we even exist!"

Just then, the portrait swung open and Steph marched in, an amused look on her face. She was being closely followed by Jake who wore a desperate yet impressed expression. Molly eyed the two. _'I'm messing with him,_ ' Steph mouthed with a wink. _'I love this girl'_ Jake mouthed with a grin.

Molly laughed, "What's up, Steph?"

"Professor Weasley wants you and your cousin, Fred," Steph replied, "She says it's urgent. Fred's already on his way."

"Ok," Molly said slowly, climbing to her feet, "Any idea what it's about?"

"Not a clue, sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Thanks, Steph. I'll see you guys later."

As Molly approached her auntie's office, familiar voices began to ring into her ears.

"I don't see how bringing random students here is proving anything, George!" one shouted.

"Will you just listen to me?" The other shouted back, "Fred, you're acting crazy!"

"I'm acting crazy?" the first yelled, "You're the one who dragged me here for literally no reason!"

"He really has forgotten!" A third voice said in complete shock, "This is exactly what happened with Minerva!"

Molly knocked gently on the office door and all conversation stopped.

"That'll be Molly!" relief seemed to conquer the exhaustion in his voice, "You'll see now, Fred, you'll remember Molly!"

"Come in!" Angelina's voice called through the door.

Molly pushed the door open. It squeaked slightly then stopped to let Molly enter. She looked around the room. Angelina sat behind the desk, her hair messy as though she'd been rubbing her hands through it. Next to her stood Roxanne and Fred jnr, looking across the room in horror. And finally, behind the door, stood Molly's father and uncle, glaring at each other, mid-argument.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

George had gone crazy. It was official.

First, he ran around the house declaring that he had children, then he announced that Fred had died, then he dragged his brother to Hogwarts! He needed healers, not teachers. Also, since when was Angelina a teacher? She shouldn't have even done her NEWTs yet, let alone become a professor!

"Fred, look at Molly!" George shouted at his twin as he pointed at the poor young girl standing in the office.

"I've never seen her before in my life, George!"

The blonde girl took a step back towards the door, her mouth dropping open in shock, "Wh-what?" she stuttered.

"I don't know who that is George, let's go back to-"

"Fred!" George said, smacking a hand to his forehead, "Of course you know who she is!"

The girl's back was now pressed against the door.

"Is he joking?" she whispered fearfully, "Tell me this is a prank!"

"George, listen to me," Fred was getting frustrated, "I don't know what you're doing, but we have a shop to run and a business to start, so let's get out this school and finish decorating-"

"Decorating? What are you on about? The shop has been open for way over twenty years, and you weren't even there for most of those!"

"George-" Angelina took a step forward from behind her desk.

"No, Angie. Fred, for twenty years, I managed _our_ shop by myself! Alone! Not once did I complain when you came back, but it wasn't fair! And now, everything's going weird! Everyone's forgetting stuff! You've forgotten your own daughter! Has it slipped your mind that you have a pregnant wife back home too? Snap out of it Fred, I need you to help me figure out what's happening!"

The entire room was staring at George. Fred's face had fallen completely, his face still confused, but his eyes said that he was processing what his brother had said. But eventually, Fred shook his head and threw his hands up helplessly in the air.

"I'm sorry, George. I don't know who she is!"

"This is exactly what McGonagall was like!"

"Don't say that Angie," George snapped, "I'm not sending Fred to St Mung-"

"Uncle George," Molly's voice interrupted her uncle.

George walked over to his niece and knelt down next to her, "What's up, Mol?"

"My hands," she said, holding it up, "They're vanishing."

Sure enough, when she held up her hand, the tips of her fingers and her nails had completely disappeared and down to her knuckles were starting to fade too.

"What's happening? Dad where's my-"

But Fred was looking at the girl in near disgust. There was no recognition in his face, no concern for his daughter. So, instead, Molly looked to her uncle with a crestfallen face.

"Oh my god," Angelina gasped. She hurried around to the front of her desk and took what was left of Molly's hands before looking up at her husband, "She's being forgotten!"

"What do you mean?" Roxanne said from next to her brother while looking worriedly at her own hands.

"Her parents are forgetting who she is! She's fading away in real life!" Angelina exclaimed, "George, you have to get Fred to remember her! Quickly!"

Fred, meanwhile was staring cluelessly at the girl. He'd never met her before, so as far as he was concerned, it wasn't his problem, although it was unfortunate. Even so, what did everyone expect him to do about it? He didn't know what to do!

"Fred!" George was shouting at his brother, "How could you say you've never met her before? She's alive because of you! This is your Molly, come on! You can't have forgotten everything! You raised her! You saved her life only last year! There's no way you can't remember!"

Silence took over the room. Fred felt guilty, he really did, but deep down, he knew there wasn't anything he could really do! He didn't know this girl! No matter what ridiculous lies George made up, nobody just forgets their own child! As far as Fred knew, he didn't even have a wife.

After a minute, Fred understood, "I get it now!" he laughed.

"You do?" George's face lit up.

Fred began to laugh hysterically while everyone else stared at him, a mixture of hope and confusion on their face until finally, "This is a prank!" Fred gasped.

"What?" George cried, "No, Fred, no it isn't!"

"Of course it is! You and Lee have come up with some new prank! It's a good one, Georgey, I'll give you that!"

Angelina lost it, she couldn't take this, "Fred! Don't be an idiot! Of course this isn't a joke you stupid, stupid-"

"Of course it is! You're all brilliant actors, by the way. How did you get the first years to help? You didn't pay them in products, did you, we need them for the shop!"

"Mum, what's going on?" The other girl, the one with dark hair and freckles, took a step towards Angelina, tears dripping down her face.

"I don't know, sweetie."

"You can stop now, I get it's a joke," Fred said impatiently, "It was funny but don't milk it."

"When will you get this into your thick head!" George yelled, causing the dark haired girl to squeal and run to Angelina. "This. Is. Not. A. Joke!"

"You're all mental!" Fred sighed.

"Come over here, Mol," George said, holding his hands out towards his niece, "Show _your_ _dad_ your hands."

The girl held up her hands. She too had tears streaming down her face, she really was a good actress.

"Explain that, Fred! Explain to us how on earth we managed to make her fingertips disappear! You know full well that's not the type of prank we do, not on each other. Now, look at Molly, properly, and please, remember the truth."

Fred sighed and did as his brother asked. Everyone in the room held their breaths. Fred studied the girl's beautiful bright blue eyes, and her gorgeous ginger streaked blonde hair. She did bare similarities to Fred, that much was true, but the Weasley family was huge, she could easily be a distant relative or something.

After a couple of horrible minutes, Fred looked up at his brother, sadness in his chocolate eyes.

"I'm sorry, George," he said, "I don't know her."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

 _The girls flopped down onto Molly's bed._

 _All Molly wanted was for everything to be fine._

 _Rosie yawned and stretched out her arms._

 _She wished her parents could just be happy again!_

 _Smash._

 _The potion on Molly's beside table tumbled to the ground._

Molly backed slowly towards the door, stuffing what was left of her hands in her pockets as she did so. When her back finally hit the door, she turned and sprinted back through the corridors to the common room. She could hear her family calling her back but ignored them, she had a very good idea about what was causing this and she _needed_ to talk to Matt and Rosie.

After practically yelling the password at the Fat Lady, Molly bounded through the portrait hole and marched over to where her best friends sat. Completely ignoring the fact they were both immersed in homework, Molly grabbed their arms and hauled them over to an empty corner.

Matt smiled brightly at Molly, "What's up?"

Molly smiled back, it was infectious, "Oh, nothing much," her face fell, "Except my dad's forgotten I exist."

"What?" Matt and Rosie whisper-shouted at the same time, their jaws dropping simultaneously.

"Completely forgotten me," Molly continued, "doesn't recognise me at all!"

"But he's your dad!" Matt protested.

"Tell him that!" Molly sighed, as she slowly removed her hands from her pockets, "And now this is happening."

Matt's eyes widened and he passed his hand across the area which used to be taken up by his friend's fingers, "Where've they gone?"

"I'm fading," Molly said, as though that answered Matt's question, "My parents have forgotten who I am. Pretty soon, all my family will have and I'll completely vanish."

Rosie looked at her own hands and gasped, "My nails!"

Two heads snapped to look at her and Matt raised his hands too. "Oh my god," he muttered, "We're all fading!"

"Professor McGonagall!" Rosie suddenly exclaimed, "And Professor Longbottom, they forgot the students too! Our lives are being reversed!"

"Why though?" Matt asked into his friend's shocked silence.

That's when Molly's face fell, "Erm, do you remember that potion that Roz knocked off my bedside table?" she asked awkwardly.

Rosie groaned and Matt slapped a hand to his forehead.

"It was when my parents were still arguing, and before we knew about the baby!" Molly sighed, "I remember thinking that I wished my parents could be happy again and that everything was all fine! Then ever since that bottle smashed, adults have been forgetting us! Maybe whatever magic was in that potion is reversing time until it's back to when my parents were happiest!"

"That's-" Rosie began.

"-crazy," Matt finished, "but it makes sense."

"Well, not really," Rosie said, "It doesn't make sense at all. After all, what type of magic can do that?"

"But the timing, the follow-up, everything! I bet you anything we could write to my mum right now and she wouldn't even know she's married, let alone pregnant. She will have forgotten all about the magical world, and me and-" Molly choked on her words, "-and dad," she finished sadly.

Matt wrapped Molly in a hug, just a chaos took over the common room around them.

"My fingers!" One girl shouted.

"What's going on?" someone else said in a panic.

"Where's my hand?" someone cried.

Within seconds, the entire common room was in uproar as students looked down, noticing that they could no longer hold their quills.

Over the bedlam, Molly could just hear a faint knocking coming from the portrait hole.

"The password's 'almighty'," a student was shouting as they banged desperately on the wall, "I've told you already!"

"And I've told _you_ , young man, that it most certainly is not! I don't recognise you either!" the Fat Lady screeched back.

Molly began to walk towards the portrait hole as the shouting continued, "You don't recognise me? I've come through this passage at least three times a day for five years!"

"Don't be utterly ridiculous! If that were true, I'd at least know your face slightly!"

"Well then maybe you need to be more observant!" the student shouted back.

Molly reached the entrance and pushed the door open from the inside to let the student in. He looked at her gratefully before pushing past Molly and heading over to his friends.

Matt, Rosie and Molly crossed the common room to join Jake, Steph, Tara, Amy and Matt's mate Ollie Bradford. Jake had his arm draped over Steph's shoulders as the poor girl shivered in fear, staring at her missing fingertips.

"The poor lamb's scared," Jake smirked at Steph who batted his arm and complained.

"I'm not scared," she pouted, "Just confused."

"Sure," Jake replied, stroking her gently on the cheek, "You tell yourself that, sweetie."

Matt laughed, "I take it you got your girl then?" he said to Jake.

"Yeah, I did!" Jake whooped, "Although at this rate I'm going to lose her again," he said, indicating to his girlfriend's hands.

"Any idea why this is happening?" Ollie asked, inspecting his own half hands, "We can't think of anything!"

Molly coughed awkwardly and looked at Matt and Rosie.

"No," Matt deadpanned, "We have no idea."

"Do you reckon it has anything to do with what happened to Professor McGonagall?" Tara asked as she flicked one of her long ginger plaits behind her shoulder.

Again, Molly squirmed uncomfortably on the sofa, but this time it didn't go unnoticed.

"Are you alright, Mol?" Tara asked, "You look a little pale."

"I think we're all a little shaken at the moment," Molly quickly lied, "I'm going up to the dorms, I'll see you guys later."

And with that, Molly skipped up the staircase, just in time to hide her falling tears.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N:  Sorry it takes me so long to upload sometimes, guys. My laptops a bit bad and sometimes doesn't like to open word and the internet at the same time and it shuts down for no reason, making it difficult to write and upload. Sorry! :(

Chapter 22

Ridiculous.

Completely and utterly ridiculous. George slapped his brother. Hard. Right across the face. He didn't even care when blood began to stream from Fred's nose. He turned to look at his own children, carefully studying each of their faces in determination not to ever forget them. He painted a picture of them both in his mind which he desperately hoped would never fade.

"I want to see Molly," George said, while still glaring at his brother.

"Fred needs to get back to the tower anyway, so you may as well take him back," Angelina suggested, glaring daggers at her brother-in-law.

"I'll come straight back to take Roxy home," George promised, kissing his wife on the cheek and following his son towards the door, "Feel free to slap Fred if he continues to act like a gormless vegetable."

Angelina snorted and shook her head.

George followed his son through the Hogwarts halls. It was nice to stroll through the castle without the constant threat of death hanging over his head, despite the miserable circumstances.

When they reached the portrait, Fred confidently announced, "Almighty!" to the Fat Lady.

The picture swung forward, somewhat reluctantly, and George was sure he heard the woman whisper, "apparently", as she opened.

George clambered through the hole after his son and looked around the common room. It looked exactly the same as it had when he had been a Gryffindor, despite it being destroyed in the battle. Although, an edge of panic was darting around the room that evening- all the students were gaping gormlessly at their hands, faces shocked and miserable.

"Oh no," George muttered under his breath, "No, not everyone!"

After spotting Molly's friends sitting on the sofas by the fire, George made his way through the crowds of crying students.

"Hey," one kid George recognised, Matt, said, "Aren't you Molly's dad?"

"Her uncle, actually, but I get your confusion," George replied kindly, "Is Molly around?"

"No, she just went up to bed, she seemed a bit upset to be honest," a boy George didn't recognise answered.

"I'll go get her if you would like," one of the girls replied, she was snuggled into another boys chest, both looking slightly worried about their disappearing appendages.

"That would be great, thanks."

As the girl got up to go and fetch her friend, the boy she'd been sitting with looked at George closely, "you own that wicked joke shop on Diagon Alley, don't you?"

George nodded and smiled, "That's me."

"Wow. I've loved that place since I was a little kid! I've never been once to Diagon Alley without going in and buying something."

George's smile widened even more as the boy continued, "It's gotten so much better recently though, I loved all the products you brought out last Christmas! I don't think I've pulled a single prank here without using something from your shop."

"You pull pranks?" George asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Of course! Why, you're not going to tell me I'm at school to learn, not joke around, are you?"

George laughed, "That would make me the biggest hypocrite ever to walk this planet. No, I'm just glad Molly's, made friends with the right people."

The group began laughing, and when the girl returned a few minutes later with Molly behind her, the Gryffindors were still giggling childishly.

"What's so funny?" Moll asked. She looked as though she'd been crying, with red, puffy eyes and tear tracks staining her cheeks.

George wrapped his niece in a hug and looked her in the eyes, "You know what's going on, don't you?" he demanded.

Molly hung her head and nodded sheepishly, before explaining everything, sniffling sadly every so often. George and her friends listened closely, their jaws going slack and eyes widening.

When she finished, Molly once again buried her head in her uncle's shoulder, shaking as she cried.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone in that shop to begin with, let alone taken that phial with me, but I didn't know what else I could do and I-"

George hushed the sobbing girl and rubbed his hand in circles on her back, "I'll check it out tomorrow, Mol. I'll go there straight away after work, I promise. We'll sort it out."

Molly nodded and sniffed, "I'm going to bed."

"Ok, I'll write soon," George promised as Molly returned to the staircase, shoulders hunched.

George sighed sadly and wiped a hand across his brow.

24 hours. That would be it hopefully. All he had to do was remember long enough to sort everything out. All he had to do was keep his mind straight and get to that creepy store fast enough to stop the students from fading.

He turned back to Molly's friends. "Look after yourselves guys, I'll sort this out," he said before turning to the jokester boy, "And you, if you ever need a summer job, you know where to go."

The boy beamed and thanked George enthusiastically. The rest of the Gryffindors wished George luck as he made his way over to the portrait hole. Before he left, George wrapped his son in a hug, "That hand of yours isn't going anywhere," George whispered into his ear, "I promise."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The day at the joke shop couldn't go fast enough. George spent every second reminding himself of his family- he repeated their names, their birthdays, what they look like, over and over again. He served customers all day, reassuring them when they questioned the absence of Fred who George had left with his mother at the Burrow. While he was annoyed at his brother, George knew it wasn't really Fred's fault. Even so, it was like Fred had given up completely- he wasn't even trying to remember. To him, the last twenty years really hadn't happened- he had just left Hogwarts and was working on opening a business with his twin.

George could see that some of the customers were struggling with their memories too. Loyal regulars who visited often, entered the store as though they'd never seen it before. Others explored as though the shop has appeared on Diagon Alley overnight; admiring the exterior for a few minutes before actually coming in.

Throughout the day, George became gradually more on edge; his fingers began to twitch, and he was jumpy and sweaty. Molly had told him exactly where to find the shop, so with any luck, George could go as soon as the shop closed and restore everything. The clock, however, seemed to have different ideas.

Time seemed to have slowed down, to the point where it had nearly stopped completely. And the more George wished it to be closing time, the further away that time seemed.

Eventually, the last customer left after strangely congratulating George on the opening of his shop. He rolled his eyes and followed the woman to the door so he could lock it behind her. He sped around the shop, closing blinds and securing products until finally, he could leave.

He marched towards the hidden alley, quickly glancing around him to make sure no one saw him vanish. With his wand in front of him, George crept through the abandoned alley. Why Molly decided it was an even remotely good idea to venture down here, George would never know- Knockturn Alley screamed 'Keep Out!' if you asked him. He looked through every shop window, but none of them seemed to match the description Molly had given him. None of the shops seemed 'filthy on the outside but clean when you looked in' as Molly had said, and there certainly weren't any creepy old men!

Slowly, George was losing hope. His mind filled with the images of the Hogwarts students whom he had promised to save. He thought about his family, who were forgetting about their own children, he even thought of Kat, Fred's wife, who was pregnant at home, probably after forgetting who the father was! For all George knew, Kat may have even forgotten all about the baby, or maybe that too had faded, just like the children at school were.

He couldn't let them all down, especially Roxy and Fred. His own children! George had found a photo of the two of them which he'd slid into his jacket pocket just to be certain that he didn't forget. Every time he placed his hand in his pocket, his fingers would brush against the tin piece of paper as a little reminder for him. But when George couldn't find the store on Knockturn Alley, he removed the photo and gently kissed the smiling faces of his two children.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, a tear running down his face and splattering onto the paper, "I looked. I really tried to find it, to find him. I won't give up, not yet, but, this, this shop, it was my only lead! I don't know where to look next."

Dragging his feet, George stuffed the photo back into his pocket and returned to Diagon Alley. His heart was still racing, but inside, he felt nothing but disappointment. He'd let everyone down.

George let himself back into the shop and clambered up the stairs to the flat which was mainly used for storage now the twins had both moved out, but when busier seasons came and the boys needed to stay for longer hours, they had been known to move some of the boxes and stay overnight.

Finding his way through the mountains of Skiving Snackboxes and Fireworks, George slid into the spare room which had the entire back wall plastered in various books on making potions and casting charms which Fred and George had used to develop most of their products. He took a seat on the floor and picked up the first book. He skimmed over every page in search of a purple potion which emitted green smoke and could erase memories.

He looked through book after book after book, refusing to let himself fall asleep. It took hours just to scour through a quarter of the pages in the room and before George knew it, the sky was pitch black and he'd slumped forwards, head resting on an open page and eyes closed.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: So here's an extra chapter to make up for my lack of uploads- I am trying guys I promise, my laptops just an idiot. anyways, do any of you lovelies like Percy Jackson, because I was considering doing a HoO fic after I've done with this one? :)

Chapter 24

When Molly woke up the next morning with tear tracks still staining her cheeks and her eyes still puffy, the first thing she did was raise her ar… raise what should be her arm. Instead, she found herself raising a stump. Her arm had completely faded so there was nothing below her elbow. Molly cursed under her breath and rushed over to Rosie's bed to shake her friend awake.

"Rosie!" Molly whispered, shaking her best friend with the arm that she did still have, "Rosie wake up!"

Rosie mumbled sleepily and rolled over, covering her head with the duvet. Molly grabbed the blanket from her sleeping friend and threw it onto the floor, "Wake up!" she snapped.

"What?" Rosie grumbled, "S'too early."

"Well sorry, I'll wake you up once I've vanished completely! This is an emergency, Roz!"

"Urgh," Rosie rolled over to face Molly, "Wha's s'matter?"

"Look at your arm, Rosie, and you tell me!"

Groggily, Rosie unearthed her arm from her covers and looked at it. It took her a few seconds to realise that her hand and forearm were missing, but when she did, Rosie leapt out of bed with a small scream and ran to the bathroom as though it was going to appear in the mirror.

"Molly," Rosie muttered worriedly, "Molly, my arm's gone!"

"No way," Molly whispered sarcastically before calling, "Don't worry, Roz, my uncle George said he'd sort it out."

"And you think he can fix all this by some freak miracle?" Rosie snapped back, rolling her eyes.

"No, but he can help," Molly said, reassuring herself more than her friend, "I don't about you, Roz, but fading into nothing isn't on my bucket list."

"Urgh!" Rosie grunted, "You know I really appreciate you taking that potion. Like, so much; in fact, it's probably the best decision you've ever made. Thank you." Rosie chucked a pillow at her friend, a scowl on her face.

Molly glared back, "My pleasure," she said coolly, "Let's go get breakfast."

The girls plodded down the stairs and into the common room to be greeted by a lot of upset Gryffindors. It seemed as though every student was running around like a maniac, wailing about the fact they were vanishing. It was giving Molly a headache. She grabbed Rosie's arm and hauled her friend through the crowds to the portrait hole.

"We'll find Matt downstairs," Molly said, "This place is chaos."

"That's an understatement," Rosie sighed.

The girls trudged through the corridors, thoroughly miserable. They, like every student in the school, looked tired and pale, with bloodshot eyes and tatty hair. Not that they cared. At this rate, they'd just be a pair of sentient feet by the end of the week.

Molly sunk into a seat at the long benches in the Great Hall, grabbing a bowl of cereal as she did so. Eating breakfast was surprisingly difficult with only one arm. Molly often found the bowl tipping over or skidding across the table as she tried to scoop up a spoonful. After only three mouthfuls, the young Gryffindor had given up and resorted to glaring at her bowl instead.

This continues for a few minutes until someone sat on her other side and said, "Is frowning at you breakfast helping you to digest it?"

"Very funny, Matt," Molly replied coldly, despite the smile tugging at her lips.

Matt chuckled at Molly before taking a glass of pumpkin juice from in front of him and gulping it down. Molly looked across at the boy just to see that he too was missing half his arm. "This is ridiculous," she exclaimed, "What have I done?"

"Hey, we've been over this," Matt said sympathetically, "You didn't have any other choice but to take it, and it's hardly your fault it smashed."

"It wasn't mine either!" Rosie complained.

"I didn't say it was!" Matt raised his hands in surrender.

Rosie grunted in disbelief.

"Hey, weren't Quidditch tryouts meant to be this week?" Matt said into the awkward silence which had formed at the table.

"Oh yeah. I suppose they'll be postponed for now. There'll be no one to play at the first match at this rate."

"Were you going to go?" Matt asked with a mouth full of toast.

Molly nodded, "I might as well. There's nothing to lose, right? And dad-" she choked slightly, "-he sent my broom over."

"We can't fade completely, right?" Rosie asked suddenly, "Not when your uncle still remembers us. I mean, he knows what's happening, so surely as long as he remembers, we'll be ok?"

"How long will he remember for though?" Matt said solemnly, "No matter how hard he tries, this is bound to catch up to him too. He won't even remember he was trying to help us!"

"Don't, Matt," Molly said, "Don't."

"I'm sorry but-"

Molly interrupted by pointing across the table to her cousin, "Look at Fred," she said, "He's completely fine, every limb is present and accounted for. For now, as long as that remains true, we'll be fine because it means that uncle George is still trying."

"But Mol, what if he… what if he can't stop it and-"

"Well, we're in Gryffindor for a reason. I'll stop it myself if I have to."


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Sorry about the upload spam but I want to make the most of my computer actually working because I don't know how long it will last. Who would you guys prefer Molly to eventually end up with because I can't make my mind up between Matt, Jamie and Ollie. I would like your opinions please! :)

Thanks, once again, to Blue Raging Fire111 for your reviews, you're so lovely, I'm glad you like the story :)

Chapter 25

When, the next day, Molly woke up with nothing but a shoulder left of her right arm, to say she was disappointed was certainly an understatement. George hadn't done it. She didn't even wait for Rosie before dragging herself down the stairs and through the common room. Briefly, Molly glanced around the cosy room, before continuing out of the portrait hole and towards the Great Hall. How she was going to write anything in her lessons, let alone hold her wand, Molly didn't know.

Gradually, the room began to fill around her and Molly quickly glanced up to look at her cousin. She let out a huge sigh of relief when she saw that both of his arms were still intact.

When most of the students had gathered in the hall, Angelina stood at the front of the hall and asked for silence.

"Now, due to certain," she paused, looking at the near-empty staff table behind her and the miserable looking pupils in front of her, "difficulties," she decided, "any lessons taking place today would definitely have been a bit of a challenge seeing as Professor Lupin and I certainly can't teach every class in the school between us and you will all find it near impossible to contribute."

There were a few sarcastic grunts throughout the sea of children and Teddy, the only other member of staff who hadn't been sent to St. Mungo's or back home, stood up.

"We all appreciate that most things are now challenges for you all but we have people working on this to hopefully get it sorted out soon," Teddy continued, "For now, however, lessons will be cancelled."

"We expect you all to co-operate fully with Professor Lupin and I as we are the only members of staff left and no outside help can be sent in. Please use your free time wisely, I'm sure you could all find some notes to be revising if you have nothing else to do," Angelina continued smoothly, "Quidditch tryouts for all houses have been postponed and if this… issue, isn't resolved soon, I wouldn't be surprised if there is not House Cup this year."

This caused an uproar. Students who had previously been on their house team stood up and shook their one arm angrily at the teachers.

Angelina yelled over the uproar, "I'm not saying that for definite! I am aware that that would be extremely disappointing for all of us but it is out of my control! If the teams can't practise, they can't play!"

The hall settled a bit, but the Quidditch teams still glared up at the two members of staff. Molly had felt nothing but guilt for the last few days. Children just like her would soon cease to exist just because of a stupid mistake she made! Matt had spent most of his time trying to convince Molly that this wasn't her fault, but frankly, Molly couldn't see how it could be anyone else's. There were lots of things she could have done with that potion. She could have told someone, left it safely at home, or abandoned the potion somewhere no one would find it so that she could forget about. There was no reason for her to take it to school and leave it on her bedside table. That entire situation just screamed 'dangerous'.

After her aunt had retaken her seat, Molly stared at her untouched breakfast for a few more minutes, before getting to her feet and leaving. Matt sighed when Molly got up and looked sadly after her. It hadn't escaped his notice that she hadn't eaten breakfast that morning or dinner the night before, so he snatched a few pieces of toast and followed her.

He caught up to Molly just as she was taking a seat in the large armchair next to the window in the common room.

"Budge up," Matt said, grinning at Molly who laughed and shuffled right into the corner of the chair. Matt squished in next to her and handed her one of the pieces of buttered toast.

"Eat," he demanded.

"I already had breakfast," Molly protested, trying to shove the toast back at him.

"Lier."

"How would you know anyway, I was downstairs ages before you?"

"Because I know you and I know you're beating yourself up about this," he said, nodding his head towards his missing arm.

Molly glared at him and opened her mouth to speak, only to find it filled with toast.

"Tasty, right?" Matt smirked after shoving the food into Molly's mouth, "It's called food, it's good for you."

"Ha ha," Molly said, after swallowing the toast, "Very witty."

"Seriously though, Mol, starving yourself isn't going to get our arms back. No one blames you."

"I do."

"But you shouldn't! There's nothing you could have done to stop that phial smashing!"

"Debatable."

Matt glared at his friend and wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a hug, "Your uncle's got this. He's smart, he can sort it out."

"He said he'd sort it out yesterday," Molly retorted, leaning her head against Matt's shoulder, "We'll wake up tomorrow without a right side of our body."

"Don't say that," Matt chided, "Give him time. You can't expect him to save the world overnight."

"I just wish I could help," Molly sighed, "I feel useless stuck at school with one arm, leaving someone else to sort out a problem I caused."

"You didn't-"

"Of course I did, Matt! It was me who brought the potion here, me who didn't tell someone, me who decided it would be a great idea to explore Knockturn Alley! And now, because of me, this stupid thing is erasing people's memories! It's made my stupid wish come true like some evil genie!"

"Your wish wasn't stupid, Mol. You couldn't have known what the potion would do. You just wanted your parents to be happy."

"And now I know that they were happiest without me! Maybe it's a good thing I'm fading, Matt. If my parents aren't happy, then maybe it's better this way."

Matt's face turned stern, "Don't you ever say anything like that ever again. You parents wouldn't have thought about having you if they weren't happy. What happened last year was a minor setback and would have caused arguments in any stable relationship. But, once this is sorted out, your mum and dad will get over it, they'll move on, make up and soon, you'll be an older sister!"

"Urgh," Molly muttered, "Another reason for them to forget about me; having a little baby crawling around the house to keep them busy."

Matt smirked, "Shut up, you're the first and the best and you always will be. Now how about we go talk to your aunt and see if she's heard anything."


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: I know, I'm a horrible human. Long time since I upload and the chapter's tiny, but I'm still struggling with the internet on my laptop so I'm really really sorry. I'll try super hard to upload as often as I can, seeing as my chapters are quite short but I don't know when the next one will be. :(

Chapter 26

George awoke to find himself sprawled in a pile of books on his old spare room floor. He groaned and slowly removed his head from the pages it had been resting on. Groggily, he looked around him at the mess that was the flat. There were pieces of parchment littering the floor, notes of possible potions in scribbled handwriting and broken, tattered books strewn everywhere across the room. Once again, he sighed and picked up a handful of the pages. Removing his wand from his back pocket, George quickly waved it and everything began to return to its original shelves. Boxes which had their contents spilling from the tops neatly closed and stacked themselves against the walls.

Meanwhile, George was looking through the sheets in his hands. None of them had anything about a memory reversing or time rewinding effect, but one, ancient, crumpled page caught George's eye. The diagram in the top right-hand corner showed a small phial filled with a purple liquid and spewing from the top was…

Green smoke.

Heart beating quickly against his chest, George threw the other pages to the floor and his eyes darted across the lines. The paper, however, was unbelievably difficult to read. Years and years of aging had caused the words to fade and the ink to smudge. The old calligraphy made the text hard enough to understand so with the added difficulties, George found it next to impossible. He tried and he tried and he tried for nearly ten minutes until his eyes watered slightly and he was beginning to get a headache from such intense squinting. He walked over to the window and held it to the light, he used a charm to enlarge the text, he even tried to think of a spell to remove the smudges, but nothing. Nothing worked.

Folding the paper so as not to rip it, George flicked off the lights and returned to the shop, before walking back over to Knockturn Alley, wand held up in front of him. He spent nearly an hour looking around the shops, carefully trying each door and backing away when he discovered it was locked. Slowly, George was losing hope. Every single store was either, locked or completely deserted when he crept inside.

With his heart sunk to his knees, he trudged back to the joke shop but stopped abruptly when he saw it. There was a sign on the window which he and Fred had put up during the war which read, 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is closed for now! We hope to open again soon, but in the meantime, happy pranking!' That same sign, written in Fred's scrawled handwriting now hung once more on the window. George cringed, partially at the sign but partially because he remembered how painful removing that sign had been. Fred had written it on the day before the war, the day before he died. Tearing down that poster felt like tearing out a piece of George's heart at the time.

George's jaw dropped. Now, clinging to his memories was more important than ever. He strolled through Diagon Alley, gawking at the shops which had shut down or moved location after the war. "Roxanne Weasley, 11 years old, 8th December 2009. Fred Weasley jnr., 11 years old, 14th April 2008. Angelina Johnson, now Weasley, married on 7th October 2004. Roxanne Weasley, 11 years old, 8th December 2009. Fred Weasley jnr.,…" George muttered repeatedly under his breath.

He'd never let those three sentences leave his mind. "Roxanne Weasley, 11 years old, 8th December 2009. Fred Weasley jnr., 11 years old, 14th April 2008. Angelina Johnson, now Weasley, married on 7th October 2004. Roxanne Weasley, 11 years old, 8th December…"

He began to drum his fingers against his thigh as he reached the leaky cauldron. He smiled at Hannah and made his way over to the bar where she stood. Being two years above her, George had never talked to Hannah, but he hoped she knew enough of him do him a small favour.

"Hey," he began awkwardly, taking a seat at the bar, "Hannah, right?" His mind was whirring. The weather outside was miserable so if this failed, he'd have no other way of getting to Hogwarts. George's key to get into the shop hadn't worked and the protection charms had prevented him from getting in at all. He remembered changing the locks after the war left the store in tatters.

"Yeah," she said slowly, "What can I get you?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you could do me a favour."

"Right," she seemed unsure, but George's heart had lifted a bit. Hannah hadn't forgotten, like lots of others had, about the last two decades. Hopefully, she remembered him too.

"I need to borrow your Floo network," he began, "If you wouldn't mind. See, I need to get to Hogwarts and this is the only way without apparating to Hogsmeade and walking in this lovely weather into the castle."

George could see the cogs turning in Hannah's brain as she said, "Hogwarts is in Scotland. It might be lovely weather there."

"But it might be worse. Please, I have to get there quickly."

"Fine," Hannah agreed, "But just this once."

"Of course," George nodded thankfully as he ducked behind the bar and stepped into the fireplace. He thanked the woman again and announced, "Hogwarts Castle," as he dropped the powder down onto the coals.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Hogwarts castle was a pandemonium of terrified students. Prefects hurried around their respective common rooms in mad attempts to calm the worried students. Teddy and Angelina were kept constantly on their toes, running around the school until eventually, they couldn't take it.

Teddy sat down heavily on Angelina's desk, his hair light grey and streaked with red, "We can't keep running around like this," he said, "We'll die of exhaustion."

The two had been around the castle all day, tending to various students worries and needs. Neither of them had sat down all day.

"Let's get everyone in the Great Hall together. It'll be easier to control that way," Angelina suggested.

"But a whole lot louder," Teddy mumbled as he headed off to fetch the students.

Half an hour later, all the students, a few missing their arms, sat glumly on the benches in the Great Hall. Bringing everyone together had in fact silenced the school, as they children sat huddled in groups, sobbing silently or whispering miserably to one another.

Teddy's heart broke for them all. He desperately hoped that as long as he, George and Angelina remained 'sane', then they'd all be fine, but at the same times, something inside him told him that that wouldn't work out. Fred jnr. seemed to be the only source of hope for anyone. He sat amongst his fellow Gryffindors, comforting them and wafting his arm at them to show his father was out to help them. His encouragement seemed to be helping until George himself burst into the hall angrily.

"It's gone, Mol!" he shouted, "The shop isn't there!"

Molly's jaw dropped, "No," she mouthed in shock, "It… it has to be there."

"I looked," George said, "I looked and I looked and I looked. Nothing. Nothing at all. No freaky shopkeeper, no dodgy potions or edgy looking shelves. There's. Nothing. There."

Teddy's heart fell. He looked around the hall to see the students' eyes filling with fresh tears. On the table in front of where George now sat were two pieces of paper. Teddy stepped down from the staff table and headed over to his friend, peering over George's shoulder. A smile tugged at his lips when he saw the photo of Angelina, Fred and Roxanne but the grin vanished again when he saw the other sheet. He'd seen it before, he knew he had. Teddy could vaguely feel the familiar tingle of his hair changing colour, but what shade it had become, he didn't know. Snatching the sheet from the table top, he ran from the hall, Angelina, George, Molly and Fred jnr. hot on his heels.

First, he ran to his office, pulling apart his bookshelf in search of the book he needed. He cursed when he didn't find it. He must have returned it. Teddy took off again in the direction of the library, ignoring the questioning comments from the four following behind him.

Sprinting past the shelves so quickly that the books were probably confused, Teddy reached the restricted section of the library.

"Alohomora," he chanted quickly and continued through to the dingy part of the school. This room still gave him chills, so he could see why it was out of bounds to the students.

When Teddy had still been a student at Hogwarts, he and his friends had heard in class of a potion which allowed you to change one of your features. Being the 'genius' students that they were, they'd decided it would be a brilliant idea to try and recreate then edit said potion so they could all be metamorphagi like Teddy.

So, one night, Teddy had morphed himself to looked vaguely like Professor Flitwick, just in case, and crept out after curfew to retrieve some potions books from the restricted section of the library so they could execute their plan. Needless to say, the potion didn't quite work to plan when the boys added lizard eggs instead of lizard legs (an easy mistake to make) and Teddy's friends had ended up in the hospital wing for weeks with rather enlarged facial features.

But the book which they'd retrieved the potion from had also included some other interesting recipes including a potion to melt your enemy's insides temporarily, a mind-reading potion and a 'potion for your wildest dreams'. It had been that particular set of instructions which had stopped Teddy from returning the book immediately; he wanted to know what having real parents was like and the potion claimed to be able to do so. And it was that set of instructions which was gazing him in the face.

He recognized every inch of the parchment- from the scrawled writing to the diagram in the top corner. But he also knew that this wasn't the full sheet. He specifically remembered the recipe taking up two pages one containing the method, the other, how to properly use it and the antidote. Teddy marched quickly through the aisles until he reached the shelf where the book sat. He could put his hand on the spine in seconds and was soon passing the heavy book to George.

"It's in there," he said, "Everything you need. The antidote, how to reverse it, everything."

George looked down at the book in his hands. After days of searching, he finally held the answers.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Fred was confused.

Very confused.

His twin brother had claimed that Fred has lost his mind and forgotten the last twenty odd years, then left him with a random child and one to 'work'. There were many things wrong with that. Nothing around Fred even seemed slightly that it had aged twenty years, and if George _was_ right, why did no one else agree with him. Fred's brother was outnumbered; the entirety of the UK, to one.

But still, Fred found himself sitting at the Burrow, face to face with a young ten-year-old girl who had tears streaming down her face. George had arrived in the early morning of yesterday with the child, ignored his mother's questions of where he'd been all night and said, "I know you probably don't recognise this girl but it's very important that you look after her for me today. Care for her properly."

Mrs Weasley opened her mouth to speak but George continued, "Please, mum. For me? Just while I'm at work."

Without saying a word, Mrs Weasley nodded and watched as George hugged the girl reassuringly. As soon as her son had left, the motherly instincts kicked in Mrs Weasley took one look at the sobbing girl before ushering her into the living room and settling her on the sofa with a hot chocolate.

When Fred had arrived downstairs a few minutes later, confused already due to the lack of George in the bed next to his, he wanted to scream when his mother told him George had dropped the young girl off before heading out to work.

"He's probably out with some girl," Fred muttered angrily.

"A what?" Mrs Weasley asked suspiciously.

"A friend mum," Fred said quickly, "Just a friend."

"Your brother doesn't have a girfrie-"

"No, mum. George is still very much single."

"Shame," Mrs Weasley's shoulders sagged, "It's about time you boys found yourself someone, especially now that you're such successful businessmen."

Fred didn't reply as he grabbed himself some breakfast. Once he'd taken a seat at the kitchen table, he said, "Why did he say he's going to work? We closed ages ago so no one was going out in public with all the Death Eaters around. What on earth does he need there?"

"I don't know," Mrs Weasley said, placing a steaming mug of tea on the table in front of him, "But I don't like the idea of you two wondering around outside, especially with Ron off Merlin knows where with Harry and Hermione. I want as many as you safe as possible and I can't believe George is irresponsible enough to-"

"Mum," Fred interrupted her, "He'll be fine. I just wish he'd talked to me."

"You don't think he's still got all that nonsense in his head, do you?"

"Nonsense?"

"All that stuff he was on about the other day. You know, when he dragged you off to Hogwarts. What a fuss he caused."

Fred didn't reply. He stared at the steam curling off his mug, thoughts whirring in his brain. Some things weren't quite matching up. George took Fred to Hogwarts, fair enough, but why was Angelina there? Where were the real professors, and if things really were as strict as Ginny had been saying in her letters with Snape as headmaster, how had they been allowed to march through the halls without any bother? Where was McGonagall, or Slughorn, or even Snape? Where were those evil Carrows he'd heard so much about from his sister? That didn't add up.

And the child who George had cared so much about…

How could he have met someone and have such a strong bond with them without even mentioning their existence to his own twin brother?

Could he be telling the truth?!

"Fred?" Mrs Weasley was shouting at her son, "Fred, dear! Fred, are you alright?"

"He's right, mum. George. He's telling the truth!"

Fred leapt to his feet, mind buzzing. He wanted desperately to remember, to prove George right, but he had no recollection at all of what George had said had happened! He ran into the living room and sat opposite the young girl who was sniffling softly.

"Hey," Fred began kindly, "What's your name?"

"Roxanne," the girl replied softly, "But most people call me Roxy."

"Well, Roxy, you have a lovely name," Fred smiled, "I understand this is strange for you. Really strange, in fact, and I'm very sorry. I know I must be your uncle, but the truth is, I can't remember you and that… that sucks. That sucks really bad. I also know that when your idiot father sorts all this mess out we'll remember this conversation and I'll get all embarrassed because I forgot my own niece. So," he took a breath and leaned in close to her, "I need to ask you a favour."

The girl looked up, curiosity sparking in her eyes. Fred continued, "Will you protect me when your dad tries to beat me up?" he asked seriously.

The girl giggled. It was such a happy sound in the midst of the mess which was Fred's brain. So happy in fact, that it shocked Fred and he jumped back slightly.

"You're exactly the same as you used to be," Roxanne laughed.

"Well, it's my memory that's gone, not my sense of humour," Fred winked.

"Seriously though, I need to know everything you know about the last twenty years if you'd be happy to tell me?"

And Roxanne was off, explaining as much as she knew in as much detail as she could for at least fifteen minutes straight. She left Fred completely speechless, opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

"Damn," Fred gasped when she'd finished, "That…"

"Crazy? Insane?"

"…yeah."

"Is that not just the definition of the Weasleys though? Crazy and insane?"

"Don't forget mental," Fred added, smirking slightly, "I need to find George. If you're right and my… my daughter really did mess up and start the end of the world, I should help him sort it out."

Fred leapt to his feet and started towards the door before turning back to Roxanne, "Thank you," he said and vanished.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

George gazed into his hands. The book that Teddy placed there could hold the answers to fixing everything. His breath was shaky and his hands trembled.

The group shared a quick anxious look before George swiftly opened the book and flicked through the pages rapidly until…

There it was.

A complete mirror of the page that was folded so carefully in his pocket. The five of them stood and stared at the page in awe. Fred jnr. was beaming from ear to ear, Molly had a huge look of relief on her beautiful face. Absentmindedly she was rubbing the stump that used to be her arm. Teddy wiped his brow as his hair changed from the grey-white colour it had been to a normal brown streaked with yellow. Angelina, however, was squinting down at the book.

"What's this for?" she asked, "Why are we all in the restricted section? George, I asked you not to get me involved with yours and Fred's stupid pranks!"

Four heads snapped up sharply.

"You- you're joking, right?" Fred stuttered, staring at his mother.

"Angie?" George breathed in concern.

"What, George? Why did you come back, you've left the shop!"

"No, no, no. Angie-"

"Who are these anyways?" Angelina continued, looking at Fred, Molly and Teddy. Her eyes stopped on Teddy and she gazed at him before leaning into George and whispering, "That guy's hella cute."

Fred and Molly gasped. Teddy blushed and glanced apologetically at George who was staring at his wife in complete shock.

"What's wrong with you? Come on, you're George Weasley you should be teasing me or something by now!" She swatted his arm playfully, but when no one responded she continued, "Oh come off it, George, I know I told you I like Fred but admit it, this guy is on a whole other level of hot. No offence."

Fred and Molly cringed and closed their eyes in despair. Teddy looked as though he wanted to run away and be swallowed up by the trick stair; his hair had turned an uncomfortable shade of green which caused Angelina to squeal.

"He's a metamorphagus too! Oh, George forget everything I ever said about Fred!"

George was struggling to breathe. Of course this wasn't Angelina's fault. Molly was cringing so much she was starting to get cramp in her neck. It was possibly the most uncomfortable and confused she'd ever felt. Angelina was confessing her love for her husband's twin brother in front of said twin brother's daughter and her own husband and son while also fangirling over a man whom she considered family. No one thought it could possibly get any more awkward.

But then, Fred barged in.

"Lovely to see you all," he began loudly, "But I hear we've got a bit of a problem which I don't fully understand but needs sorting out."

"Dad!" Molly exclaimed, running forward, "You remember!"

"Not quite. I assume you must be Molly?"

"You- you don't remember me?"

"I'm sorry sweetie. I wish I did."

"How are you-"

"I got a quick low-down from your-" he pointed to Angelina and George, "beautiful little girl. Needless to say I'm very confused, but, nevertheless, I'm here to help."

I got more awkward.

"My little girl?" Angelina asked, "With George?!"

"Yeah! Roxanne, she said her name was, I think?"

"But I- I don't like George. Not like that, anyway. I would never have his child!"

A lot more awkward.

George looked like he was about to faint. His face was pale and his mouth slightly open in shock. Fred jnr. ran over to his dad and dug his hand into George's pocket until he pulled out a small piece of paper. A tear began to form in his eye as his face fell and he dropped the paper. What had once shown a happy family photo, now had faded to show a picture of two ginger twin boys in Quidditch uniforms, batting a bludger to each other.

"It's ok," Teddy said, coughing awkwardly and stepping forward, "We have this, we can sort it out, yeah?" He patted George reassuringly on the back and gestured to the book, "Let's get to work on this potion."

The next few hours were spent poring over the method and collecting ingredients. After nearly half an hour of Angelina flirting shamelessly with Fred and Teddy, the group had sent her back to the Great Hall under strict instructions to look after the students there. Admittedly, that might not have been the best plan considering there were no other adults present but desperate times called for desperate measures.

George didn't seem to have quite recovered from seeing his wife try to hook up with his brother, so he too excused himself to take a walk. Fred jnr. was in hysterics, watching in fear as his arm gradually started to fade- it wasn't long before he too was sent to rejoin his friends, leaving only Fred, Molly and Teddy to get to work on the potion.

"Well," Teddy said as they all gathered around a cauldron in the dungeons, "That was awkward."

"Is," Fred said, "It _is_ awkward."

Molly sighed sadly, "Yeah. Let's get this made quickly so we can sort this mess out."

Several sweaty and stressful hours later, it was finally completed. The three had followed the instructions perfectly, checking and double checking what it was they were doing before they actually did it. So, in front of them stood a cauldron full of orange antidote. It smoked slightly, just as the book said it should, and gave off a soft scent of burning wood.

"We did it," Molly breathed, looking up at her father who was staring at her strangely, "What?"

"You're really beautiful," Fred said, "Are you sure you're mine?"

Molly laughed, "Unless there's something mum didn't tell me."

"Damn, she must be one sexy woman something as fine as you."

"Hey!" Molly exclaimed.

"What? I'm just saying I did well."

"Well stop it," Molly scolded, "And you can tell that to mum when I've taken this and everyone's ok again."

"Surely I've told her before!"

"Yes, but something tells me she'll want to hear it again. Trust me."

Fred took a sharp intake of breath, "Rough patch?"

"Very," Molly agreed, "It's worse than bad."

Fred cringed and turned back to the steaming cauldron, "How about you have a bit of this then, sweetie?"


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

There were thousands of things running through George's mind and all of them were curse words. Was he going to spend his entire life regretting choices and mourning? Why he had chosen to 'take a walk' George doubted he'd ever know but he sure as hell regretted it. Because he was standing in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, with a wand pointed directly at his chest and his own wand lying several feet away in a huge pile of leaves.

It was, of course, entirely his own fault; walking alone in the Forbidden Forest was a bad enough idea, but walking alone when you're brain's been turned to a ball of confused mush? Even worse. One thing George did know was that being disarmed, ambushed and threatened wasn't his idea of 'clearing his head'.

The shout had come from nowhere but George was soon standing, surrounded by trees, without a wand and looking completely lost. The figure emerged from the branches, arm outstretched and a smug grin on his wrinkled face. The man had a crooked nose and tiny eyes which were sunken into his face. He sort of reminded George of Peter Pettigrew, but with less hair.

"It's dangerous to walk these woods alone," he said.

"Hypocrite," George replied, "I don't see anyone with _you_."

"Ah yes, but you see in _this_ situation," the man took a step forward, " _I_ have the control, and _you_ are wandless."

"Yet I don't seem particularly intimidated," George retorted.

"You will be."

"Ha! I've faced scarier things in these woods than an old man with a stick."

"Perhaps you've forgotten the damage these 'sticks' can do. Should I show you?"

"No thanks, I know how a wand works. I've had forty years of practice, I think I'm experienced enough."

"Just one little spell, to refresh your memory. _Crucio_!"

George gritted his teeth in pain. Of course, he'd been expecting it, his sarcasm had gotten him into similar, equally painful, experiences before.

"Good one," George congratulated through the pain which still filled his body. It took everything he had not to collapse, "Who are you, oh master of original torture?"

"You don't know me? I'm hurt," the man faked with a sly smirk on his face, "You spent most of yesterday looking for me," he whispered, as the pain intensified in George.

"Any time you'd like to stop, please feel free," George grumbled, "Glad to know my searching paid off, but I don't need you anymore."

"Shame," the man frowned, "I was so enjoying getting to know you."

"You too," George tried for a smile, but he was exhausted from fighting off the curse and fell to his knees, "But it's strange, when I usually introduce myself, I tend not to disarm and attack them. If I'd known that was the done thing, I'd have beaten you to it."

"Your wit will get you killed."

George smirked, or tried to, "I doubt it, my wit is the reason I currently run my own business and have a successful life ahead of me. And what is it that you run? Away?"

The man growled, "Crucio," and this time George couldn't take it. He grunted slightly and sank low to the floor, his insides burning and his heart screaming as it pounded against his chest.

"I _don't_ run away. I'm braver than you'll ever be," the man snapped.

"Again, doubtful, but hey, what do I know? What house were you in?"

"Slytherin, but don't you start those stereotypes on me."

"Ah, Slytherin. They're meant to be ambitious, yes? Well, clearly _your_ ambitions didn't get you very far."

"I said 'don't'."

"I didn't. I have nothing against Slytherins," he paused, "Unless they meet me in a forest and attack me for no reason; then some issues arise. Then and again, I got in a similar situation with a Ravenclaw once. He claimed I'd nicked his homework, pah, as if I'd ever be seen with homework! Anyway, there was a nasty encounter with him on the stairs, very angry he was, pushed me down three flights before he believed me! And once right, my own brother- right swat- jinxed me and Fred because we went down to the kitchens after curfew! Not my fault Fred was whining about being hungry! Oh, and one time a Hufflepuff chased me down into these very woods and hexed me so I was stranded here for over two days until finally, Fred found me. Missed the train home for Christmas! Still don't know what I ever did to her, although it might have something to do with the mistletoe- turns out Hufflepuffs aren't as caring towards Christmas traditions as they are towards everyone else. Outright refused to kiss me! And this other time-"

"Enough! I care not for your ridiculous tales!"

"Care not? When were you born, 1893?"

The man growled dangerously and took a step towards George who was sweating and breathing quickly and heavily as he writhed around on the floor. The man put his foot on George's chest and said, "I need you to do a little job for me."

"Never," George whispered, "Not after all the trouble you've caused."

"Crucio!" the man laughed, "I don't think you understand. You don't have a choice."

"Why are you doing this?" George shouted, "What are you gaining?"

Suddenly the pain stopped. George could breathe again and he made the most of the few seconds of fresh air he had before the torture began again. Resisting the curse was becoming harder and harder to fight through as he grew gradually weaker.

"My daughter," the man said slowly, "She… she died in the war. I know you know what it's like to lose someone. But this was different. She died before I knew the battle had even started, she was faithful to Hogwarts, we both were but she was there when it started and I was at home. They say she was strong, she was brave, but clearly, she wasn't strong enough. I got McGonagall's patronus which told me she was… was dead, only minutes after I got the message that the fight had started. She was gone before I could get there to help. If only I'd known when I'd seen her off on the train in September that it would be the last time."

"So you want her back? That's why you're doing this?"

"I don't know what else to do. Over twenty years I've struggled to cope without her beautiful, smiling face, I can't do it anymore! I need her back and you can make sure I get her. I won't have to feel this pain, this emptiness again."

"She wouldn't be proud of you for this!" George yelled through the pain of the curse which was still being forced upon him. Sweat was running down his face and black spots were beginning to dance in front of his eyes as he continued, "Just think about all the people's lives you're ruining! All the parents who are forgetting their kids."

"They won't remember anyway!" the man yelled. He had tears streaming down his face, "The parents won't even know! Time will reverse and then they'll have their children again! No one needs to know!"

"What about the children?" George yelled, "All those kids up in the castle. Suffering without arms, without the love from their parents. They could all be gone by the time I get back to the castle!"

"That's exactly the point," the man spat, "Surely you understand the pain I'm going through. You lost your twin brother!"

"I know! I know Fred died, but I never once thought about trying to get him back. Yes, his death destroyed me but he died nobly, just like your daughter, and in all the joy of the end of the war, there was no way I was going to ruin that to try and get him back. I know it's hard and I'm lucky to have Fred back but this won't heal the pain. You _know_ what you're doing is wrong and if you just let me go, nobody will ever know and I'll help you! Let her go, she'd be proud of you for that."

"I can't."

George was too weak to reply. His head spun and his vision blurred. The last thing he heard before everything turned black was one single word…

"Imperio."


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: This is such a boring filler chapter, I'm sorry, but it had to be done. This story is nearly finished, a few more chapters left now but I have an idea for a new HP story too which I'll start after this one! It's not about Molly, but it's still Fred and George related so if you want me to continue with Molly's story too, please let me know!

Chapter 31

Everything was ready. Molly grasped a small glass of the potion in one hand, knowing exactly what she needed to do the reverse the magic.

What the trio wasn't expecting, however, was for George to return, in a frantic dash and shouting, "Don't drink it!"

"What?" Molly, Fred and Teddy asked in unison.

"Noting," George said, "I mean, no! Don't drink it!"

"Georgie, are you ok?" Fred asked, taking a step towards his brother.

"No, I've been- yes, yes just fine!"

"What's going on?" Molly asked, taking a step towards her father, "What happened?"

"Nothing!" George asked in a fake cheerful voice, "Nothing, I'm just fine- don't listen to him, erm, me, I'm lying- no, no, I'm not!"

"Enough!" Teddy shouted, "What's this about not taking the potion?"

"It's dangerous, I mean it's not the right potion, erm you put the wrong ingredients in?"

"Well? Which is it…" Fred's voice faded, "Hang on, George, you're hurt!"

The boys had always been fairly easy-going, relaxed people, but when it came to the other's well-being, the twins knew how to be serious. For them, nothing was more important than the other's health, so when Fred saw George, pale, weak, covered in blood and barely able to stand, all thoughts of potions immediately left his mind.

"What? No, I'm fine, Fred! No, I'm not I was attacke- Yes, I am!"

"George?" Fred's voice shook, "Where did you go?"

"Like I said, I went for a walk in the forest to clear my mind. I erm, I tripped and fell down a hill. Don't be stupid there aren't hills in the Forbidden- that's how I got these cuts!"

"And you're so pale because…?"

"Gives you a bit of a shock, doesn't it? Falling down a hill. Don't be ridiculous! I'm under the- scary, scary stuff. Phff, hills, really terrifying, am I right?"

"Yeah," Fred said slowly, "George, what's really the matter? You can't get all these injuries just from falling down a little hill. What actually happened?"

"I feel down a hill Fred, honestly, I'll be right as rain once- No! He's, I mean, I'm lying! The man, he attacked me! He put me- I just need a few minutes to rest- under the- maybe a glass of water. I'll be fine!"

George started towards Molly, his arm outstretched to take the glass off her, but Molly backed away, holding the potion closer to her chest protectively.

"Listen, Mol, you can't drink that. It's dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"You see, when I was walking through the forest, before I tripped down the hill, I was looking at the paper I had and I noticed something. The recipe I had, doesn't match up the potion you spilt. It's completely different!"

"So we've made an antidote for the wrong potion?" Molly asked uncertainly.

"Looks like it. It's completely my fault, of course, no one else to blame. I think we'll just have to keep searching. No! You don't, you have the right one! It's most unfortunate, I know, but it was my silly mistake."

"George you idiot," Teddy said, his hair turning striped red and blue, "We have the book on the table in front of us. Right here, he picked it up and read, "Wishing Potion- to make your wildest dreams come true. Molly could you describe the potion which you spilt on your dorm for me please."

"It was purple," Molly replied slowly, "It gave off green smoke when I knocked it."

"Looked a bit like this, did it?" Teddy asked, turning the page around so Molly could see it.

"Yeah, exactly like that."

"So what's really going on George?" Fred asked, "Why can't Molly take it?"

"She can, don't listen to- It's too late! The original potion that started this has been in effect too long. The antidote won't have an effect."

"The book says otherwise," Teddy said, looking down at the scrawled writing.

"It's an old book!" George screeched, "Out-dated. There's a more modern, more reliable one somewhere that can give proper answers."

"How many more excuses do you have George? Tell us the truth. Is there really a legitimate reason we shouldn't do this? Or are you going to keep faking and lying to us?"

"No! There isn't a reason! Drink it quickly- Yes! You can't have it because… because it won't fix it properly," George's tone took on a sly edge, "It says, if I'm correct, that it'll stop the effects of the potion. But not reverse them. Every child in that hall upstairs will be stuck forever with only half a body. Molly, your arm won't grow back. Fred, you won't get your memories back. Teddy, if you let this happen, we could save your parents. We know how they died, we could stop it and you could have a chance at growing up with a family."

For a moment, Teddy hesitated. Molly looked anxiously down at her arm. "No," Teddy said, "I did grow up with a family. My parents died nobly, I'm proud of them, alive or dead. We can find a way to fix your arm, Molly. There'll be something, someone else to help."

"But isn't it better like this?" George taunted, "A second chance? No, it's not a second- A chance to try again. Think about it! We could prevent deaths, have the war end with less violence."

"George stop it. You know for a fact that what you're saying isn't true! We'll all lose our memories and nothing will be different! Everything will play out exactly the same and we'll be stuck in this ridiculous loop for the rest of time!"

"And if that were true, how come Teddy and I still have our memories?"

"They'll fade. They'll fade and you know it! Now stop being a prat, George. Molly, go ahead, sweetie."

"Don't!" George was desperate, "Please don't. No, Molly don't listen, drink it! Fred, I can't bear to lose you again. Molly, please, take the potion, finish this business and we can fix your arm later. No! Don't take it!"

Fred had had enough with his brother. He didn't know what had happened, but now wasn't the time to deal with it. "Petrificus totallus."

George's limbs stiffened and he stopped talking. Fred stepped towards his twin and looked into George's eyes which were filled with pain and exhaustion; he'd definitely not just fallen down a small hill. But they were also slightly unfocused, as though they weren't really seeing for themselves what was happening.

Like they weren't really his.

And then Fred knew what had happened. "Oh, George. What have you got yourself into?" he leaned in to whisper into George's ear, "Why?" he asked.

George gulped before replying, "His daughter. Died. Killed in war." Every word was a struggle. George was slowly losing the fight against the curse, but Fred understood now. He knew why George had contradicted himself in almost every sentence he spoke, as though two people spoke through one mouth. He knew why his brother had come bursting into a room, declaring his opinions which were completely opposite to the ones he expressed only an hour or so before.

Because two people were speaking through one mouth. And one of them wasn't welcome.

"Molly," Fred said, without breaking eye contact with his paralysed brother, "Drink it."


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: So there's only probably going to only be one chapter after this one to wrap the story up. Hopefully I'll get that posted later today so I can start the next story I have in mind which, as I said, isn't about Molly, but I can continue Molly's story wen I've finished the next one if you want.

Chapter 32

Three sets of eyes watched the potion go down Molly's throat. Molly herself shivered slightly at the cold sensation that spread throughout her body. One thought was going through her head: I wish for everything to be back to normal. I wish for everything to be back to normal. I wish for everything to be back to normal.

Over and over again.

I wish for everything to be back to normal.

Suddenly, George collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. Any colour that had been in his face left and he shivered slightly as he stuttered, "I'm an idiot. Did it work, Mol?"

"I- I don't know. What happened to you?"

"Nothing important. Fred, do you have your memories back?"

"It's hard to tell," Fred replied slowly, "George, you need help, we have to get you to-"

"Don't be stupid, Fred, I'm fine."

"What happened?" Fred asked gently, stepping towards his brother.

"I was attacked," George replied, "The idiot that started this mess found me in the forest. We had a… a chat."

"It looks like you had more than just a chat," Teddy said dubiously as George clambered awkwardly to his feet, stumbling a bit before balancing himself against a wall.

"It was quite a violent chat involving sass, torture and the imperious curse but I'll explain later. Right now, we have to make sure the potion worked. Let's go to the Great Hall."

So Fred and Teddy half-carried George up to the Great Hall where, to their Great relief, students were looking happily at their limbs which were, slowly but surely, returning. A few seconds later, Angelina was sprinting down the centre of the hall to wrap her husband in a hug.

"George, what happened?" she demanded.

"Just a little meeting that went wrong," George brushed her off, "Nothing to worry about."

Fred meanwhile, was looking around the hall in utter confusion. When his eyes landed on his daughter, he engulfed her in a huge hug and apologised repeatedly in her ear.

"I'm so sorry, Mol!" he cried, "I can't believe I-"

"It's my fault, dad. Not yours."

Fred smiled and headed over to George, "I'm assuming the half-dead-zombie-look isn't intentional," he said, "Care to explain?"

"Yeah but not in front of everyone. Come on."

George led Fred, Fred jnr., Angelina, Molly and Teddy out of the hall and up the stairs to Angie's office.

"The man who gave you the potion, Molly, his daughter died in the war," George began with a sigh, "He just wanted her back. He kept saying that by the time he'd found out the battle had even started, that she was already dead, killed by a Death Eater before he could arrive to fight with her. He just wanted a chance to save his daughter, his only child. He tried to move on for twenty years, but then he heard about Fred coming back in the Daily Prophet, and it brought everything back. After all, if I could have my brother back, why couldn't he have his daughter back? So he tried as many things as he could. Various potions and different types of necromancy, he even went all over the world trying to find a Time Turner. Until eventually he came up with this. He used us, used Molly, to get his plan to work then used me to stop us from, well, stopping it."

"But how did he know what Molly would wish for?" Angelina asked.

Molly suddenly gasped, "He's that creep that lives next door!" she exclaimed, "I knew I recognised him from somewhere; I saw him walking down the street every day when we moved house! He will have heard the arguments through the walls of the cottages!"

"What a twisted dude," Fred sighed, "Please tell me you would never have done that to get me back, Georgie."

"There was probably some point where I considered becoming a necromancer but-"

Fred cringed, "I was joking."

"So was I," George winked.

Like the mature 41-year-old he was, Fred stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"Anyway," George continued, "I tried to change his mind, convince him to do something else, but he had me under the Cruciatus curse- oh that reminds me, I need to go and find my wand- and he wouldn't listen to anything I said. He needed to make sure everything was reversed so he could save his daughter and he wouldn't listen when I said that that was a load of nonsense and he'd lose his memories and not be able to save her."

"I feel sorry for him," Angelina said thoughtfully, "Imagine what he must be going through."

"I can't feel any sympathy for a man who put me under the Cruciatus and Imperious curse within the space of half an hour," George mumbled angrily.

"George!" Angelina exclaimed, "This man lost his daughter!"

"Yeah I lost my brother but I don't feel the need to curse everyone who walks past me."

"You got Fred back!"

The bickering pair were interrupted when the fireplace next to them erupted in green flames and suddenly Professor McGonagall was standing before them, worry etched onto her face.

"The students!" she cried, "Are they all-"

"Everyone's fine, Professor. The kids are all back to normal, now. Are you feeling better?"

"I remember everything!" she said with a sigh of relief at hearing her pupils were all safe, "I can't believe it."

"Molly, Fred, why don't you take Professor McGonagall down to the Great Hall? We'll be down in a second," George suggested.

"No, Molly, I'm going to head home to your mum. I'll make sure she's ok and send an owl, yeah?" Fred said, wrapping his daughter in another hug.

"Ok. Will you-"

"I'll make everything up to you," Fred promised, "Both of you. Angie, can I use the Floo?"

"Yes, of course. See you later."

So, Fred stepped into the fireplace and a few seconds later, found himself standing in front of his wife.

"I'm so sorry," They both said.

And they both meant it.


	33. Chapter 33- the Final Chapter

A/N:  So this is it! The last chapter! Thank you to everyone who has read this. I'm going to write a new story, as I've said, and then maybe continue this series. Please let me know what you thought! :D

Chapter 33

A few months later, Hogwarts life had returned to how it should be and Fred Weasley was standing in a hospital with his very pregnant wife. Just outside the room, George, Molly and Mrs Weasley were waiting impatiently for their new family member to arrive. Admittedly, Fred had forgotten how much childbirth hurt. His hand ached from the tight squeezes Kat often gave and he didn't think it would ever be hand shaped ever again, but instead simply a group of crushed bones which somewhat resembled a hand. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he'd be able to pop his fingers back into place.

But what made it worse, was that he'd have to endure this crippling pain twice. Because there was something the parents had kept secret from the rest of their family (minus George because Fred couldn't resist); they were having twins.

Every so often, Fred would mutter some words of encouragement to his wife, or crack a joke to keep the mood light- somehow he got the impression that the doctors and nurses didn't appreciate his efforts, but it kept Kat laughing so what did he care?

Fred had proposed that Kat give birth in a muggle hospital seeing as Kat's parents wouldn't be around to see their daughter for a few weeks and he didn't want to push too much magic onto her. Kat was more than happy when Fred suggested this as, being a muggle, she wouldn't have felt comfortable giving birth at St. Mungo's.

Soon enough, Fred held two beautiful baby girls in his arms. He stood, sticking his tongue out at each of them in turn to make them repeat the motion to their father.

When George, Molly and Mrs Weasley were let in chaos erupted.

"I can't believe these muggle hospitals," Mrs Weasley was saying in disgust, "So much mess and- Oh Fred!" She stopped mid-sentence upon seeing the two babies in her son's arms.

"This isn't a joke, is it, Fred? You haven't stolen someone else's child for a prank?"

Fred cursed, "Dammit, mum, you caught me," he said sarcastically, with a wink at Molly, "It's all a joke, sorry to waste your time."

That earned him a sharp slap across the back of the head from his mother.

"Ouch!"

Mrs Weasley ignored him and looked down to coo over the babies, "Oh, Fred they're gorgeous! What are they called?"

"We don't know yet," Fred said, "Kat wouldn't let me call them Gred and Forge although I still don't understand why."

"Slap him for me please, Molly," Kat said from her bed across the room and Mrs Weasley was more than happy to oblige.

"Ouch! This is abuse!" Fred protested, "George help me!"

"I personally think Gred and Forge would have been brilliant names," George started but when his mother raised her hand in the general direction of his head, he continued, "for boys. But, seeing as they're girls, there are probably better choices."

"Hmph," Mrs Weasley sighed, "May I hold my grandchildren now?"

"Don't drop them," Fred said, "They're fragile."

"Fred, they're not made of glass," Kat said as she hugged Molly who had run over to see her mum, "anyway, I reckon you and your brother were dropped a few times as children."

"It would explain a lot," Molly giggled.

"Hey! You're meant to be on my side!" Fred protested.

"Don't worry Forge," George said, walking over to his twin, "I've got your back. But seriously, mum, did you drop us?"

"Maybe once or twice," Molly said thoughtfully.

"What?" the boys yelled in unison.

"I'm joking," Mrs Weasley said with a chuckle, "Although thinking about it, Charlie may have dropped one of you once."

"He was always was my least favourite," George said thoughtfully.

"I'll have you know that I, on the other hand, am very experienced in handling babies," Mrs Weasley said, taking one of the girls from Fred.

"Had one or two yourself, didn't you?" Fred laughed.

Mrs Weasley glared at her son as she took the other baby and rocked them gently before heading over to Molly and kneeling down next to her granddaughter.

"Would you like to hold your sister?" she said gently.

Molly smiled and reached out, taking one of the children from her grandmother.

"Seriously though, what are you going to call them?" George asked.

"Well, Mol, you're holding your new sister Helena Ariana Weasley," said Fred, "And mum, you have-"

"Maria Pearl Weasley," Kat finished.

"They're beautiful!" Mrs Weasley gushed.

George smiled as he took his new nieces, "Reckon we were this cute once?" he asked Fred.

"Nah, I think we were really manly babies. Handsome and dashing from the moment we were born. Right, mum?"

"Troublesome and cheeky from the moment you were born I think would be more accurate," Mrs Weasley scoffed, "I see you still haven't grown up."

"I don't know what you mean," George said innocently as he faked tripping and nearly dropping Helena.

"George!" Mrs Weasley and Kat shrieked.

Fred laughed as his brother looked up and said, "What? The floor's slippy."

"Don't be ridiculous! You have two newborn babies in your arms and-"

"Mum!" George interrupted, "I was messing! I wouldn't dream of hurting either of them! I'm sensible enough to not send the entire family a death wish."

A few hours later, Mr Weasley, Angelina, Fred jnr. and Roxanne all arrived so Mrs Weasley offered to take Molly home to the Burrow to allow some space in the little hospital room. They were all just as shocked to find two babies in the room but also equally delighted.

"Who's the elder?" Mr Weasley asked after passing the girls onto Angelina who carefully showed Roxy and Fred how to hold their cousins safely.

"Maria," Kat replied, "She's the one that-"

"Roxanne's holding?" Mr Weasley guessed.

"Yeah," Kat said slowly, "How did you know?"

"I've always been good at telling twins apart. It's something you learn quickly when you're a parent to two of the most mischievous twins around."

"He's not talking about is, is he, Fred?" George asked while also keeping an eye on his children.

"He can't be," Fred replied, "We're angels!"

Mr Weasley raised an eyebrow, "You're about as angelic as a niffler in Gringotts."

"Now that's just rude," Fred huffed.

"It's true though, Freddie," George said, "We do have a joke shop, after all."

"Only the best joke shop in the universe!" Fred said.

"I don't know," Angelina said thoughtfully, "I've heard there's a good one on Mars."

"Angie!" George cried dramatically, "I can't believe my own wife would betray me so!"

"Sorry, sweetie, it just seems Mars do better joke shops."

"I guess we're moving to Mars, then," Fred said, "We'll show those pesky Martians who's boss."

"Excuse me," Kat interrupted, "As lovely and peaceful this planet would be without you, you have two newborn children to raise and look after."

"Yes, dear," Fred sulked before leaning over and kissing his wife on the forehead, "I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
